Rufus Wainwright – Out of the Game

Rufus Wainwright has been overtly stating of late that being a highly regarded yet somewhat esoteric pop star isn’t good enough. He wants to drop the ‘esoteric’ part. And so, on seventh studio album Out Of The Game, he’s drafted in the uberlord of mainstream, Mark Ronson, and the pair do all but literally throw the kitchen sink at this one. ‘Genre-bingo’ begins with the opening track, a baleful country number where Wainwright somewhat mischievously ponders his own relevance (a recurring theme).

Synth-pop features heavily on Bitter Tears, Perfect Man, and Song of You; Jericho is a delicious slice of cabaret, and, just for The Skinny readers, an uplifting bagpipe crescendo in Candles. Guests such as Sean Lennon and sister Martha never take centre stage, for – despite the (overly) elaborate adornments – this is a quintessential Rufus album, with luscious orchestration and charismatic vocals, delightfully wry lyrics and well, ultimately quite familiar to existing fans of the man.