National Music Reviews
PATRICK WOLF
WIND IN THE WIRES
Tomlab
One moment you’re visiting the exotic world of Marc Almond’s cabaret, the next you’re The Divine Comedy channeling Morrissey at a piano bar, then you’re somewhere else and nowhere the same. There are acoustic guitars, strings, electronic grooves, beats and a whole heap of dramatics. Most artists would be content on establishing one sound and pushing it to the point of exhaustion before trying anything new. Patrick Wolf apparently has a small attention span. Fortunately he has the talent to keep it, for the most part, interesting. Sure it slows a bit towards the middle and the electroclash that burst out of “Jacobs Ladder” into “Tristan” seem completely out of place, but over-all the album works when it really has no right doing so. This is what I wanted Rufus Wainwright to sound like—Patrick Wolf would be worth all that hype.
This review originally appeared in Glitter Gutter Trash, February 2005, Issue 194.