Einer der besten
Rufus Wainwright veröffentlicht 2020 sein neues »Unfollow The Rules«, das erste neue Popalbum seit acht Jahren.
Zuletzt investierte der Singer-Songwriter seine Zeit und sein Können in seine erste Oper sowie ein Album mit Shakespeare-Sonetten.
Auf »Unfollow The Rules«, Album Nummer neun, widmet er sich nun allerdings wieder Pop und Rock.
Wie das klingt, verriet Wainwright vorab bereits mit den Singles »Trouble In Paradise« und »Damsel In Distress«.
Unterstützt wird er auf dem Album von Matt Chamberlain, Jim Keltner und Blake Mills. Um die Produktion kümmerte sich Mitchell Froom.
Das lange Warten hat sich gelohnt: Mit »Unfollow The Rules« festigt Rufus Wainwrigth einmal mehr seinen Ruf als einer der besten Songwriter unserer Zeit.
... edel klingen seine Lieder, auch im Pathos transparent und direkt, ein Hörgenuss, der den eigenen Hang zur großen Geste mit dem Klang anspruchsvollen Adult Pops verknüpft. Rufus ist zurück.
(stereoplay, Juni 2020)
His tenth album overall, Unfollow the Rules signifies an emphatic return to pop for Rufus Wainwright following a recording of his first opera (2015's Prima Donna) and a set of Shakespeare sonnets set to music (2016's Take All My Loves). It also represents a career marker of sorts; returning to Los Angeles and specifically Sound City Studios, where Wainwright recorded his 1998 eponymous debut, the songwriter has described it as a bookend to the first part of his career. A lush, theatrical, nearly hourlong 12-track set recorded with legendary producer Mitchell Froom (Paul McCartney, Elvis Costello, Crowded House), it opens with the sleek pairing of Wainwright's vocals and a drum beat by Matt Chamberlain before "Trouble in Paradise" breaks open with dense, pointed vocal harmonies. A song reportedly inspired by fashionista Anna Wintour, its expanding instrumentation includes performances by the likes of Blake Mills, pianist Randy Kerber, and Rob Moose, who did string arrangements for the album. Horns, woodwinds, keyboards, and pedal steel guitar are among other components of the song's gorgeous, volatile textures. Though there are sparer moments that follow, even tracks like the piano ballad "Unfollow the Rules" and the ominous dirge "Early Morning Madness" -- a memorable piece that stands among Wainwright's best work -- eventually swell into something more rhapsodic or, in the case of the latter, devolve into cacophony as they progress. Perhaps the most easygoing track here is "You Ain't Big," which ventures into pre-rock country stylings for a playful take on one's status in the music industry if you fail to win over the heartland. Wistful closing track "Alone Time" features just one of the many elegant melodies on Unfollow the Rules and recalls to the rich vocal harmonies of the opener. While intended to hark back to the debut, at least in subtle ways (musicians including drummer Jim Keltner appear on both albums, and much of it was recorded live in the studio), Wainwright's growth as a composer/arranger and his experiences in the classical realm are apparent here. Though, to his credit as a tunesmith, his words and melodies remain center stage.
(by Marcy Donelson, All Music Guide)
Plattentipp 
