Originally Published: 2003-10-05

Singer/songwriter Rufus Wainwright's latest release was planned as a double CD entitled simply Want, but cutbacks in the recording industry made a single CD more pragmatic, thus Want One was released this fall, while Want Two is scheduled for next spring.
This new release is Wainwright's third effort, after his self-titled debut in 1998 (which garnered him Rolling Stone's Best New Artist status) and the well-received Poses in 2002.
His trademark style - waxing poetic about love and loss, indulgence and decadence, while often featuring a cabaret-style delivery - is in evidence here. Producer Marius deVries (Bjork, Madonna) creates a richly-textured sound while allowing the campy crooner's unique theatrical flourish to shine through.
But Want One reflects a different mindset than his last release, Poses. Says Wainwright of the new collection: "It's about loneliness and being satisfied with yourself. There's a lot of blood in it."
Material here ranges from lyrical ballads to wild rock operettas. There are brashly theatrical cuts like "I Don't Know What It Is," written by Wainwright just before checking himself into a detox centre in the fall of 2002. But there are also intimate numbers featuring just voice and piano, and plenty of many - layered, melodious songs with full orchestral passages. And every cut, of course, showcases Wainwright's mellow - some say hauntingly beautiful - voice. Not for nothing is this guy the son of famed folksingers Kate McGarrigle and Loudon Wainwright III.

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