Word: wainwright
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...Who’s ever been free in this world / Who has never had to bleed in this world?” questions a brooding Rufus Wainwright in his newest effort, “All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu.” These painfully ponderous reflections represent the culmination of a major shift for Wainwright. The troubadour has been slowly moving away from the disaffected, dissolute charm of his early efforts, most notably on 2001 breakout album “Poses,” and towards an artistic seriousness that has motivated him to write an opera...
...Dream,” the standout track on “All Days Are Nights,” signifies what potential there is in Wainwright’s new style. Employing an uplifting chord progression in a refreshing major key, Wainwright warbles, “The dream has come and gone / The earth lumbers on / The dream is back in space / Back where it came from.” Striking a fantastic, wistful, and yet powerful tone, Wainwright here describes a kind of loss that avoids the lure of saccharine self-pity. His imagery, of an earth...
...Wainwright’s voice drips with emotion as he intones, “It’s the true loves / That make me want to cry / It’s the true loves / That make me want to say goodbye.” It is entirely unclear what Wainwright is talking about beyond the level of platitudes, and the broader feeling conveyed, that of love’s sadness and longing, is just as bland. Towards the end of the ballad, the piano delves into a cascading and unpleasant series of arpeggios that make little sense with such downhearted...
...Give Me What I Want And Give It To Me Now!” offer the same schmaltz in an antipodal key. After accusing an unidentified other of being a “holy cow” and a “greedy sow”, Wainwright exclaims, “I will eat you, your folks, and your kids / For breakfast!” “Sow” and “cow” form a fairly contrived rhyme, and Wainwright is searching too hard for a list of things to eat for breakfast...
...Wainwright remains an undeniably gifted and intelligent songwriter. “The Dream,” as well as a set of three songs in the middle of the album in which Wainwright sets three Shakespeare sonnets to piano accompaniment, reitreate the creative gifts that the artist has shown throughout his career. Given his past success and glimpses of his continuing talent, then, the main response to “All Days Are Nights” is one of disappointment. Most songs simply don’t live up to Wainwright’s billing. Besides the intellectual clout that...