Poses
RUFUS WAINWRIGHT
(Dreamworks)
The openly gay son of Loudon Wainwright and Kate McGarrigle reached his artistic pinnacle (thus far) with Poses, a well-rounded collection of grandiloquent pop that excised the preciousness of his 1998 self-titled debut. Wainwright's ambitious songwriting references everything from Broadway to Tin Pan Alley to saloon songs to the Beach Boys, with arrangements that roam from swelling mountains of strings to solo piano. His yearning tenor is by nature melodramatic, but on Poses he finds different gears, giving his lyrics — many of which offhandedly deal with gay life — more emotional heft. Yes, this is girlie-boy music, but it's so well crafted and melodically accomplished that your garden-variety he-man might just be seduced by it.
This article appears in Jul 9-15, 2008.