Rufus Wainwright Unveils Unfollow The Rules, New Album Out April 24th on BMG

RUFUS WAINWRIGHT

UNVEILS UNFOLLOW THE RULES
LONG AWAITED NEW POP ALBUM OUT 24^th APRIL ON BMG
NEW SINGLE, “DAMSEL IN DISTRESS” STREAMING NOW
PLAYS TWO INTIMATE SHOWS AT ISLINGTON ASSEMBLY HALL APRIL 27TH

Singer-songwriter supreme Rufus Wainwright has announced the release of his long awaited new album. UNFOLLOW THE RULES out on BMG Friday, April 24; pre-orders are available now HERE. Rufus will also play two intimate shows at Islington’s Assembly Hall on April 27^th. The first an early show with doors at 18:00 & the second at 20:45, with a UK tour to be announced shortly.

UNFOLLOW THE RULES is heralded by today’s premiere of “Damsel In Distress,” available for streaming and download along with an official companion video, created by award-winning animator Josh Shaffner and streaming HERE.

“‘Damsel In Distress’ is an homage to Joni Mitchell in some ways,” says Wainwright, “particularly the structure. My husband and I now live in Laurel Canyon. I wasn’t that familiar with Joni’s music but Jörn became obsessed and took me on a journey into her music. We ended up hanging out with her and I get now why she’s one of the greats. So it’s part Laurel Canyon, part a song about a personal relationship that I’m trying to come to terms with, but mostly my Mitchell virginity being broken.”

STREAM/DOWNLOAD “DAMSEL IN DISTRESS”

Wainwright’s ninth studio LP and first new pop album since 2012, UNFOLLOW THE RULES finds the artist at the peak of his powers, entering artistic maturity with passion, honesty, and a new-found fearlessness while remaining as creative, bold, and mischievous as ever. Produced by Mitchell Froom (Crowded House, Paul McCartney, Richard Thompson, Suzanne Vega, Randy Newman) at a variety of legendary Los Angeles studios – including Sound City Studios, United Recording, and EastWest Studios – the album serves as both bookend to Act I of an extraordinary career which, like Unfollow The Rules, began in the studios of Los Angeles, but also now as the first lines of a remarkable new chapter.

Inspired by middle age, married life, fatherhood, friends, loss, London, and Laurel Canyon, songs like “Only The People That Love” and the spirited, symphonic “Hatred” find the gifted singer-songwriter ready to tackle new challenges, yet compelled to confront his past by making sense of how he has grown both as a musician and the contended family man he has become.

“What I would like this album to symbolize is a coming together of all the aspects of my life which have made me a seasoned artist,” says Wainwright. “My aim is to emulate the greats of yore whose second acts produced their finest work – Leonard Cohen when he made THE FUTURE, when Sinatra became Sinatra in his 40s, when Paul Simon put out GRACELAND. Pop music isn’t always about your waistline. Many songwriters improve with age. I’m flying the flag for staying alive!”

Rufus plays the following UK and Ireland dates.

April
Fri 24^th                                    LONDON, Islington Assembly Hall (two shows)
August
Sat 1^st                                     GLASGOW, Kelvingrove Park
Sun 2^nd                                   IRELAND, CO WATERFORD, All Together Now

Tracklisting for ‘Unfollow The Rules’

ACT I
1. Trouble in Paradise
2. Damsel in Distress
3. Unfollow The Rules
4. You Ain’t Big

ACT II
5. Romantical Man
6. Peaceful Afternoon
7. Only The People That Love
8. This One’s For The Ladies (That Lunge)

ACT III
9. My Little You
10. Early Morning Madness
11. Hatred
12. Alone Time

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