First Listen: Rufus Wainwright - Release the Stars

Rufus Wainwright's fifth album, Release the Stars, is his most ambitious project to date. It is a more mature, textured album with a bigger sound than his previous endeavors, due in large part to the heavy orchestration found on most of the tracks. This is also his first attempt at self-producing, encouraged by engineer Tom Schick and helped out by acclaimed producer Marius de Vries. Neil Tennant of Pet Shop Boys fame is Executive Producer for the album. As always, many friends and family members help out on various tracks, including his sisters Martha Wainwright and Lucy Roche, mother Kate McGarrigle, Richard Thompson and his son, Teddy Thompson, future brother-in-law Brad Albetta, and long-time members of his backing band Joan Wasser and Jason Hart. Marius de Vries conducts the London Session Orchestra on three songs, and Neil Tennant lends his backing vocals and programming skills on numerous tracks.

Wainwright's musical influences are quite varied, ranging from the folk stylings of his parents, Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle of The McGarrigle Sisters, to opera, from show-tunes to electronica. This album is a unique blending of his far-reaching influences. It is probably not going to hold much appeal for the average American radio listener, and is not likely to enlarge his fan base, except amongst the truly eclectic music connoisseurs. The strong orchestrations and experimentation with discord and minor keys on most of the songs won't get him on the radio, and the more pop-oriented tracks with their slight 1970's feel are almost jarring in comparison to the seriousness of the majority of the songs.