"Want Two," the second half of singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright's epic third album, can truly claim to stand outside of the contemporary musical norm. Combining classical flourishes, melodramatic show tunes, and light-heated pop, it is much to Wainwright's credit that he is able produce an album that is utterly listenable and entertaining.
Wainwright is either unable or unwilling to stick to any one particular genre of music. A common thread in his songs is anachronism. Most - if not all - of the songs on this album seem to come from some other time and place, inspired by the likes of Mozart, Jeff Buckley and chanting monks.
The album is a follow up to 2003's "Want One," which was met with great commercial success. With this album, you can't decide whether you're just stepping out of a classical recital, stuck in a cheesy musical or carousing in a drunken brothel, but it is probably all three.
Wainwright's music tends towards the romantic and dramatic. His romanticism extends to spirituality on this album and the opening track, "Agnus Dei," is a Latin prayer for peace. It kicks in with some medieval-sounding violin, followed by Wainwright singing a hymn-like prayer.
You know you're in for something different when this is immediately followed by a light-hearted pop tune, "The One You Love," which could be described as early-Police-meets-gospel-choir.
It's a great transition - one minute you're transcendentally transfixed, and in the next, you're bopping your head from side to side.
If a single is released from this album, "The One You Love" would probably be first pick. It is the most conventional track, but it's still not run-of-the-mill by any stretch.
There is always some bizarre element to Wainwright's music and here, his lyrics transform the otherwise ubiquitous theme of the aching heart with "The mind has so many pictures/Why can't I sleep with my eyes open?" He actually seems to mourn: "Am I only the one you love?"
There's no lack of ambition on "Want Two," and in fact, Wainwright told Rolling Stone magazine that his album "tries to tackle some of the earthly troubles that we're in right now." Yep, those earthly troubles sure do get under your skin.
Sure enough, you can contrast the opening hymn with the explosive and brilliant final track, "Old Whore's Diet." In this extravagant ode to decadence, Rufus repeatedly sings, "An old whore's diet gets me goin' in the morning" against a backdrop of string arrangements, a fellow vocalist who tends to the operatic, and several "oohs and aahs" from female backing vocalists.
From choir boy to vice-ridden philanderer, Wainwright cycles through personas. He came into the public eye as the homosexual artist that Elton John was always praising, and in this album he frequently plays around with the idea of gender.
The cover has Wainwright posing as some sort of mythical fairytale princess character. Reasons behind this choice of cover art? Throughout the recording of this album, he saw himself as the Lady of Shallot, who "saw Sir Lancelot walk by the window and fell in love with him. And he proceeded to rape her. Then she went crazy and got into a boat and sang herself to death down the river."
Nope, there's no lack of the bizarre here. To great effect, his melodrama is often undercut by a tongue-in-cheek sense of humor.
Wainwright is also capable of self-mockery. Though he warns us to pray for our sins in "Gay Messiah," his backing vocalists repeat the phrase "Rufus the Baptist" to much comic effect.
Or take the meandering "Art Teacher," which puts Rufus in story-teller mode, as he unfolds the tale of a student who falls in love with his art teacher on a trip to the Metropolitan Art Museum: "There I was in uniform/I was just a girl then/Never have I loved since then."
The heart-rendering piano chords and theatrical vocals are juxtaposed with a punchline: "All this having said/I married an executive company head."
There is much to explore with "Want Two," which as the title suggests, focuses on the theme of romantic longing. Much applause is deserved for Wainwright's variety and creativity in his approach, which also includes odes to Montreal, Jeff Buckley (one of his greatest influences) and Baroque music.
Give it a listen if you're feeling experimental.
