Description
Label Review.
2020 album. Also available on CD.
Our Overview.
‘Unfollow The Rules’ is Rufus Wainwright’s tenth album and sees him at the peak of his powers, entering artistic maturity with passion, honesty and a new-found fearlessness, while remaining as mischievous as ever. Recorded in the same legendary Los Angeles studios as his landmark debut, his new record is both a bookend to Act 1 of an extraordinary career and a distillation of 21 years of experience at pop’s most flamboyant coal face. Inspired by middle age, married life, fatherhood, friends, loss, London and Laurel Canyon, ‘Unfollow The Rules’ captures Rufus at a crossroads. Ready to tackle new challenges, yet compelled to confront his past, he’s taking stock of two decades of running riot with rules, making sense of how he has matured as a musician and celebrating the contended family man he has become.
Speaking about ‘Unfollow The Rules’, Rufus said that he would like the album “to symbolise a coming together of all the aspects of my life which have made me a seasoned artist. My aim is to emulate the greats of yore whose second acts produced their finest work – Leonard Cohen when he made ‘The Future’, when Sinatra became Sinatra in his 40s, when Paul Simon put out ‘Graceland’, pop music isn’t always about your waistline. Many songwriters improve with age. I’m flying the flag for staying alive!”
First single “Damsel In Distress” is an homage to Joni Mitchell in some ways, particularly the structure” Wainwright explained. “My husband and I now live in Laurel Canyon. I wasn’t that familiar with Joni’s music but Jörn became obsessed and took me on a journey into her music. We ended up hanging out with her and I get now why she’s one of the greats. So it’s part Laurel Canyon, part a song about a personal relationship that I’m trying to come to terms with, but mostly my Mitchell virginity being broken.”
Tracklisting: Trouble In Paradise / Damsel In Distress / Unfollow The Rules / You Ain’t Big / Romantical Man / Peaceful Afternoon / Only The People That Love / This Ones For The Ladies (THAT LUNGE!) / My Little You / Early Morning Madness / Hatred / Alone Time