AngleUponAngles"Why does nobody see I am the new Madonna". That’s what Patrick Wolf once said being overwhelmingly and excessively proud of himself. He featured on television shows that not even he would garner respect for, just to gain media attention (alas, The Charlotte Church Show), his music started to become secondary to developing a look that suited his personality and benefited his savings account. During this period he also moved from being bisexual to 100% gay, making an undeniably big deal out of it (so much so that even I’ve included it in the first paragraph). Oh, and he also made one of the worst albums that has ever entered my ears, The Magic Position. It seemed as if he was just in it for the money.
When describing himself as the new Madonna it’s instantly recognisable that Wolf is moving in a new direction, albeit not a very original direction, but a new direction nevertheless. After being amazed and astounded by his debut, Lycanthropy, It’s hard to believe that the same person who made all those shivering, moving, creepy and atmospheric soundscapes is now calling himself the new Madonna. Now how would one redeem their selves after rendering them selves the new Madonna? Well, they could live up to said remark by having some actual traits in their songs that relate to Madonna’s rather than tagging yourself as pop whilst having no songs that come near qualifying as a classic pop song, or, We could forgive him and pray to god that he makes nothing like that of Hard Candy.
But when Wolf isn’t relating himself to totally distinct pop stars, appearing in lame chat shows or dying his hair, he does try to make some great songs. And his new album, The Bachelor, clarifies that well, if a little unhinged. It’s obvious that Wolf has thought about it this time. He’s also introduced new album characteristics, including a Spoken Word Narrative, a choir, and err, S&M. Although not all suffice.
Although this album is an entirely new product to anything else he’s done in his career, I wouldn't say they don't have any similarities whatsoever. I think it's the closest album of the three to Lycanthropy due to the soundscape and instruments. I think they both conjure dark elements and both have that weird unsettling feeling, It's just Lycanthropy portrays exactly what it wants/tries to. I don't think Bachelor has close to as much effect because although he's gone back to his darker roots, (for some reason) he's still holding back. It lacks the creativity, all the imaginative stories that were in Lycanthropy. I would tell you how they’ve become more mainstream and accessible much like The Magic Position, conjuring themes like love and such other generic feelings, but the truth is, I have no clue as to what any of these songs mean without looking it up. Apparently, Vulture, the first single from Bachelor, is about the satanic antics he got up to when in America. This back story makes for such a good classic Wolf song. But it isn’t, It’s seems half hearted. Vulture is the perfect example of this uncreative state of mind he’s working in. Ironically, Vulture is the most Madonna-esque song, the Hard Candy era.
I think this album is going to be very successful for the same reason I think Wolf has been very sly in choosing his first single. Although, unlike his last two efforts I think it’s going to be avoided by the “Indie kids” and rope in the hipsters due to the more drum machine beats and synthesizers on vulture as apposed to chime bells on Accident and Emergency. But in reality I don’t think there’s enough layers, enough material to keep them occupied. There are too many ballad type songs with only a couple of measly electro-y tracks. I see this album as an attempt at being entry level unconventional music, only to be crushed by the constant annoyance of a stupid choir appearing in the last couple of minutes at the end of each song who seem almost as troubled as their leader, sounding like mindless drones. This is especially evident on songs such as “Count of Casualty” and “Who Will?” This choir sort of drags the album down, making it less varied than it could’ve been and more repetitive than it should’ve been. The first song featuring this choir, “Damaris” is a great song, and a pleasant surprise when said choir incorporate their talent towards the end, but when they’re on every song after that, the spontaneous boundaries evaporate. The record becomes much more dense.
The Spoken Word Narrative, read by actress Tilda Swinton, the latest addition to the series, “Patrick Wolf’s How to Desperately Plead For Attention But In A Sort Of Subtle Way”, is actually a brilliant and possibly the best trick up Wolf’s sleeve for this album. Swinton reads a short script at the beginning or part way through the majority of the songs, acting as Wolf’s mother or sister. This is in no way overwhelming and I don’t think Wolf could’ve picked a better actor to take the roles. Both her voice and the melodies suit and bounce off each other perfectly. On the matter of narratives, I’ll move swiftly on to Wolf’s, at times, tragically awful lyrics. Many of the songs on here could battle it out for the vocally worst, but only one ultimately stands out. Which one you say? The clue is in the sentence.
With this album, I think he's tried to evolve what he created on Lycanthropy, but with more substance, and I think that's where he went wrong. I think when making this album, he's had substance, as well as the Madonna quote, as well as many other things that have boosted his ego during the Magic Position era on his mind all along which has lead him to create something way over produced. It's a return to form, but a return to form on the most basic level nevertheless. I just think he's tried to make it too epic though. He can't do epic.
There's been a lot of speculation that he saved the majority of the electro tracks for Conqueror (His next album that was going to be a double disc with Bachelor). It would of been daring and most likely would've worked if he went ahead with the double disc idea. Or maybe, he should've replaced some of the hollow songs that are on The Bachelor with some of the more catchier songs from his next one to keep The Bachelor from becoming stale, which it does on a few occasions. Is he the new Madonna? Well he also once said, “Mika is a twat”, Here I think he’s found a more comparable character.
When describing himself as the new Madonna it’s instantly recognisable that Wolf is moving in a new direction, albeit not a very original direction, but a new direction nevertheless. After being amazed and astounded by his debut, Lycanthropy, It’s hard to believe that the same person who made all those shivering, moving, creepy and atmospheric soundscapes is now calling himself the new Madonna. Now how would one redeem their selves after rendering them selves the new Madonna? Well, they could live up to said remark by having some actual traits in their songs that relate to Madonna’s rather than tagging yourself as pop whilst having no songs that come near qualifying as a classic pop song, or, We could forgive him and pray to god that he makes nothing like that of Hard Candy.
But when Wolf isn’t relating himself to totally distinct pop stars, appearing in lame chat shows or dying his hair, he does try to make some great songs. And his new album, The Bachelor, clarifies that well, if a little unhinged. It’s obvious that Wolf has thought about it this time. He’s also introduced new album characteristics, including a Spoken Word Narrative, a choir, and err, S&M. Although not all suffice.
Although this album is an entirely new product to anything else he’s done in his career, I wouldn't say they don't have any similarities whatsoever. I think it's the closest album of the three to Lycanthropy due to the soundscape and instruments. I think they both conjure dark elements and both have that weird unsettling feeling, It's just Lycanthropy portrays exactly what it wants/tries to. I don't think Bachelor has close to as much effect because although he's gone back to his darker roots, (for some reason) he's still holding back. It lacks the creativity, all the imaginative stories that were in Lycanthropy. I would tell you how they’ve become more mainstream and accessible much like The Magic Position, conjuring themes like love and such other generic feelings, but the truth is, I have no clue as to what any of these songs mean without looking it up. Apparently, Vulture, the first single from Bachelor, is about the satanic antics he got up to when in America. This back story makes for such a good classic Wolf song. But it isn’t, It’s seems half hearted. Vulture is the perfect example of this uncreative state of mind he’s working in. Ironically, Vulture is the most Madonna-esque song, the Hard Candy era.
I think this album is going to be very successful for the same reason I think Wolf has been very sly in choosing his first single. Although, unlike his last two efforts I think it’s going to be avoided by the “Indie kids” and rope in the hipsters due to the more drum machine beats and synthesizers on vulture as apposed to chime bells on Accident and Emergency. But in reality I don’t think there’s enough layers, enough material to keep them occupied. There are too many ballad type songs with only a couple of measly electro-y tracks. I see this album as an attempt at being entry level unconventional music, only to be crushed by the constant annoyance of a stupid choir appearing in the last couple of minutes at the end of each song who seem almost as troubled as their leader, sounding like mindless drones. This is especially evident on songs such as “Count of Casualty” and “Who Will?” This choir sort of drags the album down, making it less varied than it could’ve been and more repetitive than it should’ve been. The first song featuring this choir, “Damaris” is a great song, and a pleasant surprise when said choir incorporate their talent towards the end, but when they’re on every song after that, the spontaneous boundaries evaporate. The record becomes much more dense.
The Spoken Word Narrative, read by actress Tilda Swinton, the latest addition to the series, “Patrick Wolf’s How to Desperately Plead For Attention But In A Sort Of Subtle Way”, is actually a brilliant and possibly the best trick up Wolf’s sleeve for this album. Swinton reads a short script at the beginning or part way through the majority of the songs, acting as Wolf’s mother or sister. This is in no way overwhelming and I don’t think Wolf could’ve picked a better actor to take the roles. Both her voice and the melodies suit and bounce off each other perfectly. On the matter of narratives, I’ll move swiftly on to Wolf’s, at times, tragically awful lyrics. Many of the songs on here could battle it out for the vocally worst, but only one ultimately stands out. Which one you say? The clue is in the sentence.
With this album, I think he's tried to evolve what he created on Lycanthropy, but with more substance, and I think that's where he went wrong. I think when making this album, he's had substance, as well as the Madonna quote, as well as many other things that have boosted his ego during the Magic Position era on his mind all along which has lead him to create something way over produced. It's a return to form, but a return to form on the most basic level nevertheless. I just think he's tried to make it too epic though. He can't do epic.
There's been a lot of speculation that he saved the majority of the electro tracks for Conqueror (His next album that was going to be a double disc with Bachelor). It would of been daring and most likely would've worked if he went ahead with the double disc idea. Or maybe, he should've replaced some of the hollow songs that are on The Bachelor with some of the more catchier songs from his next one to keep The Bachelor from becoming stale, which it does on a few occasions. Is he the new Madonna? Well he also once said, “Mika is a twat”, Here I think he’s found a more comparable character.
