Exclusive: Rufus Wainwright On His New Album, "I've Done That Whole Ponderous, Psuedo-Genius Thing"

By Laura Ferreiro Fri., May 11 2012 at 10:01 AM

Categories: Video Premiere

See also:
*Reviewed: Rufus Wainwright at the Orpheum Theater, 5/12/12
*With the Help of Mark Ronson, Rufus Wainwright Learns to Dance

Rufus Wainwright's new album Out of the Game is widely being hailed as the Canadian singer's pop masterpiece, and boasts a distinct '70s-influenced yacht rock vibe that could have come straight out of Laurel Canyon.

Although it sounds slick and polished, it turns out that most tracks were recorded at three New York studios, in single down-and-dirty takes with the band playing live in the room.

Mark Ronson, best known for his work with Amy Winehouse and Adele, produced the album, and he and Wainwright speak on the work below, in a video exclusive to West Coast Sound.

Wainwright, who has homes in Toronto and Montauk, New York, explains that he was out of his element recording in a "heterosexual boys club" environment, but the lack of pretension enabled him to deliver takes that were less "precious" and more audacious than much of his previous work.

After spending the past couple of years dealing with the death of his mother and becoming a father with partner Jorn Weisbrodt and ~~surrogate~~ mother Lorca Cohen (the daughter of Leonard Cohen), Wainwright is back in the saddle as an artiste.

He's also at the front end of a world tour, which stops at the Orpheum Theatre tomorrow. Wainwright's live performance prowess is legendary, and odds are good he'll break out his gold lame pants as the icing on the cake.

Correction: This story originally said that Lorca Cohen was the surrogate mother of Wainwright's child, when in fact she is the co-parent.

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