Out of the Game

Out of the Game

by Rufus Wainwright
Out of the Game

Out of the Game

by Rufus Wainwright

CD

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Overview

Rufus Wainwright's 2012 studio effort, Out of the Game, is a '70s singer/songwriter album with some soft rock and disco and elements that bring to mind a mix of Boz Scaggs, ELO, and Todd Rundgren. Produced by Mark Ronson, the master of making retro new again, Out of the Game has a vintage, organic aesthetic featuring horns, old-school keyboards, strings, and the occasional fuzzed-out guitar. In that sense, it is a return to the more straightforward pop/rock style of Wainwright's early albums, although some of the opera and classical influences of 2007's Release the Stars are still evident. Similarly, the stark personal style Wainwright investigated on 2010's All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu is also still here, albeit in a much more pop-friendly and melodically palatable form. Wainwright, who has always been a deeply intimate songwriter (he confronted his crystal meth addiction and recovery from it on 2003's Want One, dealt directly with the death of his mother, Kate McGarrigle, on Lulu, and has never shied away from addressing his homosexuality), here details his life since becoming engaged to his partner in 2010 and fathering a child in 2011 with Lorca Cohen (Leonard Cohen's daughter) on the impressionistic "Montauk." In the song, Wainwright croons to his future adult daughter, "One day you will come to Montauk and see your dad wearing a kimono and see your other dad pruning roses/Hope you won't turn around and go." Later in the song, he summons the ghost of his mother with the line, "One day years ago years ago in Montauk lived a woman now a shadow/There she does wait for us in the ocean." It's a terribly bittersweet moment and a kind of apotheosis of all the events that inform the mood on Out of the Game. As moving as that song is, Wainwright and Ronson balance out the more introspective songs with such immediately engaging cuts as the Rundgren-esque soft rock title track anthem, the soulful baroque pop of "Jericho," and the T. Rex-meets-'60s girl group-sounding ballad "Rashida." Elsewhere, "Barbara," "Bitter Tears," and the languid "Song of You" evince a kind of Giorgio Moroder Europop vibe and also compare favorably to works by such similarly inclined Wainwright contemporaries as Ron Sexsmith and Richard Hawley. Although Wainwright's private life may have taken him out of the pop game for a time, this album is one of his most classicist, not classical, pop records and in that sense, Out of the Game is definitely a winner. ~ Matt Collar

Product Details

Release Date: 05/01/2012
Label: Decca
UPC: 0602527943206
Rank: 156502

Tracks

  1. Out of the Game
  2. Jericho
  3. Rashida
  4. Barbara
  5. Welcome to the Ball
  6. Montauk
  7. Bitter Tears
  8. Respectable Dive
  9. Perfect Man
  10. Sometimes You Need
  11. Song of You
  12. Candles

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Rufus Wainwright   Primary Artist,Piano,Vocals,Synthesizer,Guitar (Acoustic)
Mark Ronson   Bass
Anthony Rossomando   Guitar
Loudon Wainwright III   Vocals (Background)
Martha Wainwright   Vocals (Background)
Michael Leonhart   Cornet,Trumpet,Flugelhorn,Mellophone
Anna McGarrigle   Accordion
Lucy Roche   Vocals (Background)
Victor Axelrod   Organ,Piano,Synthesizer
Thomas Bartlett   Organ,Piano,Synthesizer,Fender Rhodes
Homer Steinweiss   Drums
Sloan Wainwright   Vocals (Background)
Sean Lennon   Guitar (Acoustic)
Jenni Muldaur   Vocals (Background)
Nels Cline   Guitar (Electric)
Stuart Bogie   Sax (Tenor)
Nick Movshon   Bass,Drums,Percussion
Thomas Brenneck   Ukulele,Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric)
Andrew Wyatt   Vocals (Background)
David Budge   Drums
Andrew Rivera   Grip
Angee Blake   Vocals (Background)
Rose Elinor Dougall   Vocals (Background)
Charysse Blackman   Vocals (Background)
Gary Nadeau   Director
John-Angus Smith   Pipe
Kevin Keys   Vocals (Background)
Michael Loenhart   Cornet,Trumpet,Flugelhorn,Mellophone
Ian Hendrickson-Smith   Sax (Baritone)
Nick Zinner   Guitar (Electric)
Chaim Tannenbaum   Vocals (Background)

Technical Credits

Mark Ronson   Producer,Drum Programming
Vaughan Merrick   Engineer,Pro-Tools
Dave Ryan   Engineer
Joshua Blair   Drum Engineering
Ross Cullum   A&R
Rufus Wainwright   Composer
Dave Macarone   Engineer
Tom Elmhirst   Mixing
Al O'Connell   Engineer,Vocal Engineer
David Thomas   Stylist
Tina Tyrell   Photography
Ben Jacks   Camera Operator
Andrew Rivera   Gaffer
Tom Arndt   Release Coordinator
Pat Barry   Creative Director
Rutger   Groomer
Evelyn Morgan   A&R,Production Coordination
Julian Peploe   Design,Art Direction
Barry J. Holmes   Photography
Ted Tuthill   Assistant
Noah Shulman   Title
Ben Baptie   Engineer,Mixing Assistant
Oliver Schrage   Release Coordinator
Alala   Engineer
Adam Koontz   Camera Assistant
Cheri Keating   Groomer
Gary Nadeau   Editing,Producer
Jason Schuler   Camera Operator
Jodie Barnes   Stylist
Ted Jensen   Mastering
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