Rufus Wainwright
Want One (Dreamworks)
Alt-pop songstress Ally Evenson told us about her love for a Rufus Wainwright gem...
Ally Evenson: I first heard Rufus Wainwright’s voice on the Shrek (2001) soundtrack singing Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah. Some people might consider Jeff Buckley’s cover the definitive version of that song, but they’re wrong because it’s Rufus Wainwright’s. Whatever. Many years later, when I was in high school and using Pandora to discover new music, I heard a familiar voice. I looked at my phone and it was “Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk” by, of course, Rufus Wainwright. I had chills. I immediately switched from my phone to my computer and searched for him on Youtube. Obviously, I hyper-fixated.
Want One has maybe my favorite album art of all time which is what drew me to it in the first place. I grew up on the Beatles so I was no stranger to the world of Baroque pop, but this hit differently. The opening track has an orchestra accompanying Rufus while he sings about being gay. This was unheard of for a 15 year old in Michigan.
Most of the albums I consider my “favorite albums” are the ones I found in my formative years. Albums that showed me what music could be. Albums that I was like “wait I can make stuff like this?” Want One taught me that theatrical and campy music can live separately from showtunes. You can be edgy and vulgar while also writing a symphonic arrangement. You can be gay and proud and sing about it (this one was a big one and didn’t make sense until later in life). His melodies are so sticky, his lyrics are so matter of fact and his voice is quite literally butter. It’s an album I know every single word to and a solid recommendation to any Cameron Winter diehards out there.
Ally Evenson's Speed Kills is out now.
Photo by Cole Silberman
