"Everything I like's a little bit sweeter, a little bit fatter, a little bit harmful for me," Rufus Wainwright sings in "Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk," the outstanding album opener from his sophomore release, "Poses." The song itself is a good example of the kind of guilty pleasures Wainwright sings about, the kind that abound on this complex but catchy neo-folk-pop record.
Wainwright is the son of folk legend Loudon Wainwright III, and has therefore found himself in the unenviable position of having to prove himself musically in order to avoid the "easy ticket to fame" stigma that has dogged the likes of Sean Lennon and Jakob Dylan.
But prove himself he has. His 1998 self-titled debut album won wide critical praise, and "Poses," released last month on Dreamworks Records, builds on that success. Wainwright's self-deprecating and emotional lyrics are delivered with a Beatlesque sincerity, and his heartfelt piano playing (reminiscent of Elliott Smith or Dartmouth's Brian Jacobs) is at the core of most of the album's tracks.
Thanks to the work of several esteemed producers, the record also features well-placed strings, horns, organs and other unexpected instrumentation, giving it a well-rounded feel. Wainwright ventures into jazz and R&B elements on "Shadows," pure pop on "California," and soaring acoustic-driven folk harmonies on the album's lone cover version, "One Man Guy," which his father Loudon wrote.
At its best, like the sublime "Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk," Wainwright's music is all-encompassing in its approach. It's a song that begins spare and quiet before progressing into sweeping vocals, soaring strings and impeccable pop hooks that manage not to sound unoriginal or overly sentimental.
It avoids these things not just because Wainwright takes musical risks, like placing a French horn solo in the middle of the song, but also because of the incongruity of the music to the subject matter.
It's a pop song, but what he's singing here is not a banal tale of love or heartbreak, but a complex confessional of his obsessions.
"Poses" combines superb lyrics with well-produced melodies, and for the most part it succeeds brilliantly. Wainwright is a promising new talent.
