Search - Patrick Wolf :: The Bachelor

Spine tinglingly good!!

Nse Ette | Lagos, Nigeria | 07/15/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If it were left to radio or Billboards charts, my collection would be filled with Hannah Montana, Jonas Brothers, Lady Gaga, and the like. Thankfully I have sources like British music magazine Q to guide me, so when I saw they gave this album 4 stars, my interest was piqued. I had never heard of Patrick Wolf before this but I must say I am taken by his majestic and beautiful music. It sounds as though it were written for a musical, incorporating classical instruments like ukulele, viola, piano, as well as Celtic and electronic adornments for a dramatic flourish. This is an album I listen to straight through from start to end, and I'll attempt to go through each track to give you a feel of the music.



Opening is the brief instrumental "Kriespiel" which sounds like a spacecraft engine being tuned, leading into the sunny shimmery "Hard times" (think Duran Duran meets David Bowie - He does look like Bowie/Billy Idol stepping out of a time machine on the cover) and the bouncy "Oblivion" (featuring Tilda Swinton as "The Voice of Hope") with skittery electronic beats and cutting strings.



"The Bachelor' (featuring Eliza Carthy) is adapted from a traditional Folk song "Poor Little Turtle Dove." It is (in this case) an androgynous love song about a farmer lamenting his lack of a spouse despite all his wealth in livestock, with Eliza's gravelly voice sounding distinctly masculine. This song is simply awesome! I must point out that unlike Tilda Swinton who provides narration on the songs she appears, Eliza sings a duet with Wolf. "Damaris" is another standout, a sombre Pop song with icy sounding viola and a choppy riff.



With melancholic ukelele sounds and plucked guitars, Thickets (again featuring Tilda Swinton as "The Voice of Hope") has a strong Celtic feel. "Count of casualty" has choir-like harmonies offset by a staccato of electronic pulses. "Who will?" is a more stripped ballad with subtly dramatic strings and electronic flourishes.



"Vulture" is bouncy Electro-Pop with slightly distorted vocals and squelchy effects, while "Blackdown" starts off deceptively as a piano ballad before marching beats, claps and swirling strings sweep in. The lyrics appear to be autobiographical, a monologue with his father - "Get proud of my birthright / think of the things that I must leave / When I leave behind the city and the living, finally".



The Bowie-like "The sun is often out" is a string-swathed ballad with a choir-backed chorus, followed by Theseus (featuring Tilda Swinton as "The Voice of Hope") with sweeping strings and gentle beats. "Battle" is a frenetic rocker, and closing is "The messenger" with a tinkling and chiming intro and interesting electronic beats against a haunting backdrop.



This is what music should be, intelligent, moving, and cerebral!"

Wolf's best yet

D | 08/29/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I've found all of Patrick Wolf's albums to be inconsistent, but this one is easily my favorite. It took a while to grow on me - in fact this started as a three-star review, and I yanked it at rewrote it as I became more fond of the album. Some of the songs are just incredible: "The Bachelor" is stunning and is my favorite Wolf song to date, and "Damaris", "Who Will" and "Theseus" are especially great too. On the other hand, "Battle" is pretty terrible, and a couple other songs don't match the strength of the album's best tracks. But as a whole, it's great, and actually exceeds my expectations for Wolf. Very well done."

Overboard yet contrived fourth record

vedderoh1 | NJ United States | 11/15/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Patrick Wolf is a busy bee. When he is not beating boyfriends on stage he is witnessing street fair performances or crafting albums geared to surpass the conventional. The past two years have shaped his creative bulb into a different creature, thus not long ago he announced his desire to make a double album where he could pour all his recent experiences. Luckily he decided to alleviate the burden and chose to split the project in two parts, of which The Bachelor is the first and Conqueror the second, to see the light in 2010.



His precocious musical training thrust him into the spotlight with the poignant debut Lycanthropy (2003)where he talked about isolation, sexual awakening and coming of age. It was Wind in the wires with the extraordinary singles Tristan and The libertine that turned the critics' heads and made him an artist to watch. This second album was cemented deeply in his Cornish and Irish roots, giving his fascination for local legends and bohemian life a taste of grounded honesty. The magic position would be the one to take him beyond the circle of cult reviewers and to the ears of the entire world. Its eponymous single was ubiquitous and lost love centered tracklist was a solid return to form.



The idea behind The Bachelor has changed as much as the labels he worked for: it went from being political to the depression he suffered during his last world tour to the vortex of emotions generated by his newfound love. When parting ways with Universal Records he made public his decision to sell the shares of the album on [...], a system that allows contributers to invest in the finishing and production of the album at the same time that they get a share of it, "almost like being a co-owner" he said. The effort paid off because after many turns the release date was finally set for June 1st.



Faithful to his taste for impressive intros Kriespel gives cue to Hard times, in my opinion of the finest singles released so far this year, with its contrasting electro beats and exquisite violin among cries for change. He delivers one of his best vocal performances without much fanfare.

The bachelor is the song that most reminds of the Lycanthropy era. Paired with powerful Eliza Carthy Wolf's voice falls slightly behind, but they both sail swiftly on a piano-based melody that depicts the imaginary life of a farmer and his wife. Damaris is a perfect example of a successful attempt at epic. The song is perfection from beginning to end and every instrument converges to the climatic finale where the choir chants "rise up" much to the listener's delight.



If he sins of anything it is from crowding songs that would have sounded great otherwise. By insisting on multiple layers of vocals and arrangements he crosses the fine line of good taste into excess: by the time The sun is often out comes on the trick under the sleeve that a children's choir was in the first track has lost its appeal and one wishes he would forget it for good.

Another evident flaw is the hidden meaning of most of the songs. Take Vulture and its S&M themed lyrics and video for instance, if it wasn't for Wolf explaining it in interviews no one would ever guess it is about his experience with a satanist in California.

The spoken word contribution of actress Tilda Swindon fits appropriately in some tracks, like Marianne Faithful did in Magpie, but when used merely to repeat Wolf's sung verses becomes a tiresome resource that should have been avoided altogether.



Some have already dismissed him as an egomaniac seeking to touch the stars too soon, while others see him as one of the few remaining hopes for the future of British music. Personal behavior aside Patrick Wolf has paid his dues and even though he could use some tweaking his robust voice (young Morrissey anyone?)and still inventive songwriting skills speak for themselves. The Bachelor may sound overpowering and non-cohesive on a back-to-back play but we have yet to see what awaits on its second installment. For now the craving has been satisfied with a splendid reminder of what tragedy and redemption can do for inspiration."