8 JULY 9, <strong>2020</strong> • METROWEEKLY.COM
Spotlight V. TONY HAUSER The Return of Rufus Rufus Wainwright has reemerged after years away with new music reflective of his age and our times. THIRTEEN YEARS AGO, RUFUS WAINWRIGHT CAPtured a liberal’s lament with American politics in his dramatic song “Going <strong>to</strong> a Town.” “I wrote it under Bush Junior, but since Trump’s been elected, it's kind of come back with a vengeance,” the singer-songwriter says. “The song is a kind of perennial of sorts, so it's a bit disconcerting. But it is looking like a lot of fac<strong>to</strong>rs are combining <strong>to</strong> really bring down Trump. And it's a good time <strong>to</strong> be in the United States <strong>to</strong> really fight the good fight.” Of course, that fight has gotten a lot harder — and also more important — in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. But Wainwright puts it all in perspective. “It is never easy. It's never easy in the face of tyranny. I was watching a Rosellini movie last night, Rome, Open City, which is about the Nazi occupation of Rome during the war. We’re just one on a long list of troubled vic<strong>to</strong>ries.” Wainwright, who otherwise would have been in the throes of an extensive global <strong>to</strong>ur, considers the pandemic, and specifically the past few months of quarantine, a kind of blessing in disguise. “I did actually need some downtime, and was a little worried about my physical wellbeing,” he says. “I needed a break. I think the whole world was spinning out of control before the pandemic and everybody needed <strong>to</strong> just s<strong>to</strong>p for a couple of months, at Watch the Video for “Damsel in Distress” least.” Aside from allowing him <strong>to</strong> catch his breath and get in better physical condition, “probably the best thing about this period is that I’ve gotten <strong>to</strong> see our daughter [Viva] a lot more than in the past because I am on the road so much.” The quarantine also gave Wainwright time <strong>to</strong> up his playing game. “I’m an okay pianist, but if you were <strong>to</strong> put me next <strong>to</strong> a classical or jazz pianist, I wilt pretty quickly. But in this last period, I've been able <strong>to</strong> really hammer out some kinks in my technique that I've been sort of fluttering around for years.” He’s also returned <strong>to</strong> his old hobby of drawing, something that fac<strong>to</strong>rs in<strong>to</strong> the artwork for Unfollow The Rules, his first pop album in eight years. “What's really interesting about this album is that, because I went away for ten years <strong>to</strong> work on my operas and Shakespeare sonnets, I had a little bit of distance from the pop world,” he says. Wainwright was writing the whole time, and songwriting became his outlet “for capturing a lot of very honest feelings at a very integral moment” — among other things, reflections on being a husband, a father, and, more generally, life at a certain age. Unfollow The Rules could be viewed as a kind of “portal in<strong>to</strong> middle age,” says the artist, who will turn 47 next month. “It <strong>to</strong>ok a long time <strong>to</strong> get these songs <strong>to</strong>gether. Thankfully now they all fit. And I'm still middle-aged.” —Doug Rule Unfollow The Rules will be available at your preferred music s<strong>to</strong>re starting Friday, <strong>July</strong> 10. Turn <strong>to</strong> page 30 for Sean Maunier’s review. JULY 9, <strong>2020</strong> • METROWEEKLY.COM 9
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