WAINWRIGHT SETTLES DOWN
Unfollow the Rules takes auteur back to his roots
“I’ve always written records that are slightly clairvoyant,” Rufus Wainwright said.
“It’s often the case that I’ll write a record at the end of a tour, and when the album comes out I’ll be living what I wrote about a couple of years earlier — it’s this weird thing that happens in my life.”
On the phone from his L.A. home shortly after lockdown began, the New York-born, Montreal-raised singer-songwriter was referring to releasing music in the time of coronavirus.
Putting out an album was already a tricky prospect pre-pandemic, given the crumbling state of the music industry in the streaming era. With the entire world in a state of suspended animation under COVID -19, it’s uncharted territory.
When we spoke in late March, as far as Wainwright knew, things were moving ahead for his ninth collection of original material, Unfollow the Rules — his first pop album (for lack of a better term) in eight years, initially scheduled for a late-april release. Soon after our interview, amid the uncertainty caused by the pandemic, the launch was delayed until July 10.
In the weeks leading up to the planned April 24 release, a housecoat-clad Wainwright posted daily “quarantunes” on his Facebook page, performing material from throughout his repertoire, alone on piano, from the comfort of his living room. (In a similar spirit, his sister Martha has performed online singalongs of songs by Leonard Cohen and Gilles Vigneault.)
In this time of upheaval, he hopes his music might provide solace to those looking for something to latch on to.
Wainwright sees connections between the lyrics of some of his new songs and the realities of social distancing, isolation, partisan politics and the threat of death.
“(I’m thinking of ) songs like Alone Time, Early Morning
Madness, Hatred or Trouble in Paradise,” he said. “There’s a real edge to this record, which is very appropriate right now. On the other hand, it’s tough. There’s nothing maudlin about it. I’m not this poor, lost romantic boy; I’m this emotional warrior. So I think it fits perfectly.”
Following his 2012 album Out of the Game, Wainwright fulfilled that title’s prophecy by stepping away from the pop world with his 2016 release Take All My Loves: 9 Shakespeare Sonnets, and the première of his second opera, Hadrian, by the Canadian Opera Company in Toronto in 2018.
“I wouldn’t say I took a sabbatical,” he said. “But I went off into the classical world, fairly deeply. In a lot of ways, it was very successful. No, I didn’t conquer the form; I wouldn’t say I’m considered this star of classical music.
“That being said, my operas were produced, and there’s going to be other productions coming. I definitely made a big mark, which is pretty much the best you can do when you’re starting out.”
Along the way, he began to miss his day job — or rather, his night job. After long days of trying to fit into the mould of the classical world, “battling with choruses, conductors and critics,” he would retreat to his piano and write from a more personal perspective.
“I developed a new-found appreciation for where I came from,” he said. “I wrote a lot of songs with that spirit. There’s a need in these songs that gives them potency.”
Life has changed for Wainwright. After years split between upstate New York and Toronto, he has settled in L.A.’S Laurel Canyon with husband Jörn Weisbrodt and their daughter Viva, of whom Wainwright shares custody with Lorca Cohen (daughter of Leonard).
“In coming here, I was returning to my roots in terms of where I made my first record (1998’s self-titled release). I also discovered a whole tradition of Laurel Canyon singer-songwriters. Jörn has been working a lot with Joni Mitchell. Linda Ronstadt used to sing my mom’s song (Heart Like a Wheel), and was the queen of that scene.
“A combination of those two things made me immerse myself in the history of songwriting in L.A. That became a real directive for this record. I was trying to be part of that tradition, which arguably I came from, even though I was not brought up here.”
Musically, Unfollow the Rules is a strikingly accomplished work — a song cycle of arresting poise, confident yet playful, eclectic yet cohesive, adventurous yet grounded.
Wainwright does indeed tap into some ethereal ’70s spirit. He had Randy Newman in mind on the witty opener Trouble in Paradise, which swings with a laid-back country feel and hints of gospel. The jaunty folk number Damsel in Distress has what he calls a “Joni Mitchell-esque feel.”
He lets his classical impulses run free on the title track — a Broadway-worthy piano ballad — and the dramatic My Little You.
He brings that old Wainwright humour to Peaceful Afternoon, a love-and-death ode to his 13-year (and counting) relationship with Weisbrodt. He gets languorous on Only the People That Love, and lets his Elton John freak flag fly on the campy synth jam Hatred.
While his singing chops are beyond reproach here, Wainwright also proves himself a songwriter through and through. But whereas his diverse interests and musical instincts have led him in various directions in the past, he is reined in by producer Mitchell Froom (Crowded House, Suzanne Vega, Paul Mccartney).
“I have to credit him for the concise nature of this record,” Wainwright said. “The whole time, he was incredibly conscious of keeping the album relevant to itself. He wanted to retain the Rufus-istic magnificence, the grandiose statements and the romantic lines. By the same token, we wanted it to be streamlined in a way that didn’t alienate the listener.