'Unfollow the Rules' might serve as a playbook for Rufus Wainwright’s career so far. Feted as the next big thing on his arrival on the music scene, his journey has seen a few bumps and diversions on the way, that have, some would contend, slowed down his charge towards much greater acclaim and larger public recognition than his undoubted talents truly merit.
Much publicised struggles with addiction, a love of more theatrical and operatic works, and a Shakespearean sonnets opus meant his more “mainstream” work was sidelined. His last “pop” album was 2012’s Mark Robson produced ‘Out Of The Game’.
‘Unfollow The Rules’ sees Wainwright well and truly back in the game, with one of the strongest works of his hugely diverse musical pilgrimage. When Rufus is good, he is special. His stated aim this time around is to aim for the level of Leonard Cohen and Paul Simon, two stars he suggests who really had a second awakening in the latter part of their musical journey.
All my albums have been meaningful. I put 100% of my energy into them and my shows. Maybe I didn’t have the tenacity or the bandwidth to manipulate my image to fit into whatever the needs of the public were at the appropriate time.
Rufus Wainwright, 2020
This time he really means business. Produced by the ever-reliable Mitchel Fromm, ‘Unfollow The Rules’ plays to the Wainwright’s strengths with rich playful lyrics, resonant doleful voice, and beautiful melodies.
Never fully able to disavow his theatrical side, the album is split into three acts. Act One is about the Laurel Canyon vibe and being a singer/songwriter. Act Two is a more typical Rufus Wainwright set, and Act Three, he refers to as the angry, darker side dealing with issues such as addiction, loss, and having Donald Trump as president.
Offerings such as ‘Early Morning Madness’ and ‘Hatred’ have that histrionic and melodramatic sweep of old, and very affecting they are to. But it is when Wainwright gets his pop smarts on that the album really flies.
Take this self-deprecating dig at celebrity in ‘You Ain’t Big’:
You ain’t big unless you’re big in Alabama. Don’t know who you are unless you made it in Wichita. Gotta get back to Kansas, or at least southern North Carolina. You ain’t big unless you’re big in Mississippi. Don’t know who you are unless you made it in Topeka. Gotta get back to Kansas, or at least southern West Virginia
‘Damsel In Distress’ celebrates the Laurel Canyon musical community of South California and Joni Mitchell in particular.
‘This One’s For The Ladies (That LUNGE!)’ is a humorous ode to some of his female fans who have been known to get a little over enamoured. Tracks such as the title track, ‘Trouble In Paradise’, ‘Romantical Man’, ‘Peaceful Afternoon’, and particularly ‘Early Morning Madness’ are as good as anything in his back catalogue.
Wainwright suggests this is the beginning of a shiny second part of his career. On the evidence of this album, after seven years away from the mainstream, he is not only back in the game, but back in the big league.