Rufus Wainwright
Release The Stars

THE REVIEW

After nine years of career and four albums, each more beautiful than the last, Rufus Wainwright's artistic trajectory experiences an unexpected downturn with "Release The Stars." It might be a physiological decline in inspiration, or perhaps the transition from Dreamworks to Geffen, or any other reason, but this album, which still offers moments that highlight the talent and genius of its author, turns out to be a rather uneven work full of highs and lows, with some sections that leave one decidedly perplexed.

A perfect example of these hesitations is the opener "Do I Disappoint You": lots of electronics, plenty of orchestral surges which, in the face of a melody that just can't seem to take off, instead of becoming a precious enhancement of the musical discourse, remain purely decorative and at times even annoying. The same applies to "Slideshow", which, after a decidedly beautiful and linear beginning, in the style of "Want One" so to speak, gets tangled in an over-arranged chorus neither fish nor fowl, or for "Tulsa", where Rufus himself goes over the top in the finale, ruining this otherwise excellent short composition, while episodes like "Not Ready To Love", "Leaving For Paris n°2" and the title track "Release The Stars" have the sweetish taste of already-heard filler/outtakes.

All this might suggest a complete debacle, but fortunately, that's not the case: our artist is still capable of writing songs that deliver emotions, such as the second track in the list, "Going To A Town": the electronics and orchestrations step aside, leaving only a piano, RW's voice, and some backing vocals, which give life to a ballad as mournful and bitter as it is authentic and fascinating, or more ethereal and fairytale episodes, which fully enhance the vocal and compositional skills of this artist, like the wonderful "Tiergarten" and "Nobody's Off The Hook", while "Rules And Regulations" and especially "Between My Legs" drift towards more lively and colorful sounds, truly pleasant, authentic high-class pop just like "Sanssouci", in my opinion the best episode of the whole album, with its catchy, fluid, and crystalline melody, a real classic.

Seen in hindsight, "Release The Stars" could become a transition album towards something new, hoping that, if so, our artist decides to follow the path of "Going To A Town", "Between My Legs" or "Sanssouci" and not that of "Do I Disappoint You" or "Slideshow", because in that case, his artistic journey would take a decidedly wrong turn. While awaiting a new album to reveal this mystery, I'll go back to listening to "Poses".