Rufus Wainwright



Release The Stars (2007)



Rating (out of 10): 9

Tracklisting: Do I Disappoint You?/Going To A Town/Tiergarten/Nobody’s Off the Hook/Between My Legs/Rules and Regulations/Not Ready for Love/Slideshow/Tulsa/Leaving For Paris No 2/Sanssoucci/Release The Stars

I have to admit to not exactly taking to Rufus Wainwright straight away. Despite being a huge fan of his sister, Martha Wainwright, I never really felt the desire to listen to much of Rufus’s work. I can’t really say why; it just never appealed to me. That is, until I happened upon his latest album ‘Release the Stars’, which made me really change my opinion about him. Release the Stars is a great album which showcases Mr Wainwright’s talents as a singer songwriter. There’s some really good songs on here. My favourite is ‘Going To A Town’. It’s a fabulous song with great lyrics and great vocals. When I first heard it I took an instant liking to it. It has a certain familiarity about it which makes you fall in love with it straight away.

For the uninitiated, the music of Rufus Wainwright is mainly acoustic style ballads with a very theatrical feel to it. It’s quite unique, which is probably the main reason why it can be difficult to get into at first. This album is probably the best place to start for newcomers as it’s much more accessible than his earlier work. The main thing I like about ‘Release The Stars’ is it’s simplicity. It’s just a collection of really good, solid songs, no frills, no extras. And it doesn’t need any extras. The best songs on here are the aforementioned ‘Going to A Town’, ‘Between My Leg’s’ and ‘Nobody’s Off the Hook’, but really there isn’t one single bad song on here.

Rufus Wainwright definitely has some big shoes to fill with his parents Louden Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle being very highly respected musicians and performers and his sister Martha’s debut album receiving great critical acclaim, and with ‘Release the Stars’, he definitely doesn’t disappoint. Already onto his 6th Album, it seems like Rufus has been around forever, and with an album like this, he clearly demonstrates how is talent is going from strength to strength with no signs of slowing down.

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