Rufus Wainwright: All Days Are Nights; Songs for Lulu (Decca)

 |   |  <1 min read

Rufus Wainwright: Zebulon
Rufus Wainwright: All Days Are Nights; Songs for Lulu (Decca)

It's perhaps enough to note that this is Art Music in which Wainwright sings largely chorus-free, sweeping lyrics over the top of grandiose and often grandiloquent solo piano and addresses the death of his mother Kate (his greatest supporter and critics, he says) and dedicates it to his sister Martha, "the bright lady".

This is also a song cycle (Lulu is that which lurks within us but we have to abandon to save ourselves) but the consistent tone of high drama and the narrow musical framework will make this a test for most.

Songs like Martha ("time to go up north and see mother") have a therapetic quality and this Wainwright continues that family tradition started by his father of naked, soul bearing. Zebulon is beautifully spare and the standout.

Brave but not an easy one. It's been filed. 

Share It

Your Comments

post a comment

More from this section   Music at Elsewhere articles index

Ben Waters: Boogie 4 Stu (Eagle/Shock)

Ben Waters: Boogie 4 Stu (Eagle/Shock)

If nothing else -- and there is more "else" -- this album should attract attention for the version here of the Bob Dylan-penned track Watching the River Flow which features, for the first... > Read more

Paul Weller: Sonik Kicks (Island)

Paul Weller: Sonik Kicks (Island)

Aside from the excellent set list, when Paul Weller played the Powerstation in late 2010 what was so impressive and exciting was his impassioned delivery. You were left with the clear impression he... > Read more

Elsewhere at Elsewhere

The Beatnix: Stairway to Heaven (date unknown)

The Beatnix: Stairway to Heaven (date unknown)

There are any number of bands who can convincingly replicate the look, sound and songs of Beatles (our money always goes to excellent Bootleg Beatles). But Australia's Beatnix took a different... > Read more

WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT . . . “THE VELVET UNDERGROUND – ETC”: Candy says, yeah but nah . . .

WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT . . . “THE VELVET UNDERGROUND – ETC”: Candy says, yeah but nah . . .

There are plenty of albums of very dodgy provenance (live and studio bootlegs, outtakes never intended to see the light and so on) but few misrepresent themselves quite as much as this one which,... > Read more