Rufus Wainwright: ‘Release the Stars’ review

By Jarrod Sio

Rating: 7/10

With a clutch of cavernous, three dimensional songs which would not sound out of place in a Broadway musical, esteemed singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright’s au courant effort Release the Stars comes across as an extended one hour musical which, at junctures, pay homage to the same reservoir of musicals that have perhaps informed Wainwright’s outputs—which runs the gamut right to the seminal Phantom of the Opera (the ominous strains of which can be heard at the coda of ‘Between My Legs’).

Wait; singer-songwriter and opera? Indeed. With one broad karate chop, Wainwright has attempted and essayed a rousing thrust towards the Holy Grail of songwriting—one which critics would gladly term as ‘cinematic’. Alternating between trickling, brooding sentimentality and triumphant horn/brass sound amalgamations, Release the Stars exhibits a Wainwright who remains convinced of his own vocal and songcrafting prowess. Juxtaposed against the inevitable comparison to Jeff Buckley’s acrobatic vocal derring-dos and soaring key reaches is a songwriter who has a predilection to traverse down a melodic path, swaddling the listener’s aural faculties in a duvet of sonic possibilities, before the sudden, unexpected segue of an assorted brass or string section lifts it out of convention, toying with the thrumming, gritting anticipation—before gently easing back into the original mood.

Like his previous efforts Want One and Want Two, Rufus does not belt as much as croon ala a postmodern Sinatra, albeit with a stark, wounded conviction laced with liberal splashes of noir. Make no mistake however, of the same class and panache in delivery. Opener ‘Do I Disappoint You’ hitches on to that aforementioned wagon of brassy goodness at the denouement, as does ‘Between My Legs’ with its added layers of strings. Elsewhere, one can’t help but imagine Parisian vistas in sepia overtones and luster in ‘Leaving for Paris No. 2′.

Twinkling, bright and centered, Wainwright’s songs scream ‘Beatles’ and ‘Lennon’—the former to the nth degree. Indeed, no song does more so than the joie de vivre of ‘Slideshow’, which transitions from the soft/loud dynamics of latter day alt-rock (a legacy of Cobain) to the continent-overbourning, boiling dramatic pomp—before simmering back down to a bubbling near whisper. The man also remains unapologetically sanguine about his homosexual orientation in ditties like ‘Between My Legs’ and ‘Not Ready to Love’, both songs bemoaning and celebrating it.

Ensconced in non-generic, beautiful, poignant melody, the output of the reigning indie king of pop-opera offers a sagittal section of music—real music—that does not necessarily mean a spot on the Billboard chart, nor a radio slot after Rihanna. But just when you thought you had Wainwright’s progressions pegged, his songs fly off into wildly unpredictable tangents. And you are taken away. If the adage that music is meant to transport one to another realm is true, then Release the Stars does so, and much more.

RUFUS WAINWRIGHT - RELEASE THE STARS
(Geffen/Universal)

Track Listing

1. Do I Disappoint You
2. Going to a Town
3. Tiergarten
4. Nobody’s Off the Hook
5. Between My Legs
6. Rules and Regulations
7. Not Ready to Love
8. Slideshow
9. Tulsa
10. Leaving For Paris No. 2
11. Sanssouci
12. Release the Stars