Rufus Wainwright Out of the Game

Rufus Wainwright has sounded downright mercenary in the press as of late talking about his desire for a radio hit. Teaming with British super producer Mark Ronson, who has delivered chart toppers for Amy Winehouse and Adele, certainly seems a step toward accessibility on his seventh album.

But it doesn’t take long into this layered, ambitious offering for Wainwright’s supposed top-of-the-pops ambitions to come off as either delusional or a touch disingenuous.

Sure, the title track lopes along with a nice California-country groove before hitting its exhilarating chorus, suggesting it may have found some radio love in the 1970s. And Track 2, the soulful Jericho, may be one of the Montrealer’s most straightforward and winning melodies.

But the album also features Rashida, a shapeshifting romp with muscular Queen-like guitars and finishes with the gorgeous Candles, a seven-minute tribute to mother, Kate Mcgarrigle, that ends with bagpipes.

If anything, this is Wainwright’s version of Imperial Bedroom, Elvis Costello’s prickly 1982 collaboration with Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick. It’s the sound of an eccentric artist chafing against the limitations of pop music while exploring its possibilities.

Will it turn Wainwright into Adele? Probably not. But it might be one of his most exciting sets of songs.