All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu

by Rufus Wainwright

Overview

All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu finds singer/songwriter Rufus Wainwright stripping back the operatic flourishes of his 2007 album Release the Stars to deliver a stark and deeply personal collection of songs. Where Stars often featured large backing ensemble arrangements, here Wainwright simply accompanies himself on piano, allowing the lyrics of these poetic, introspective songs and his voice to take the spotlight. Never one to shirk away from cerebral and conceptual artistic endeavors, Wainwright has adapted three Shakespeare sonnets here that work quite well as ruminative, classically impressionistic-style pieces. Elsewhere, tracks like "Who Are You New York" and "Sad with What I Have" feature Wainwright's longstanding knack for clever and ironic turns of phrase. Obviously, the memory of Wainwright's mother, Kate McGarrigle, who died in 2010 after an extended illness, hangs heavy throughout the album. It is clear that Wainwright wrote and recorded much of All Days Are Nights during her illness, and themes of loss, depression, and sadness permeate these songs. Wainwright addresses this directly in "Martha," a yearning plea to his sister, singer/songwriter Martha Wainwright, to whom he also dedicates the album. Wainwright sings, "Martha it's your brother calling. Time to go up north and see mother. Things are harder for her now and neither of us is really that much older than each other anymore." The song, as with most of of All Days Are Nights, is a bold, absolutely emotionally naked statement that still retains Wainwright's devastating talent for artful, universally compelling songcraft. ~ Matt Collar

Product Details

Release Date:	04/20/2010
Label:	Decca
UPC:	0602527364049
Rank:	89669

Tracks

Disc 1

1. Who Are You New York?
2. Sad With What I Have
3. Martha
4. Give Me What I Want and Give It to Me Now!
5. True Loves
6. Sonnet 43

Disc 2

7. Sonnet 20
8. Sonnet 10
9. The Dream
10. What Would I Ever Do with a Rose?
11. Les Feux D'artifice T'appellent
12. Zebulon

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Rufus Wainwright   Primary Artist
Jon Nasbrodt   Handwriting

Technical Credits

Adam Ayan   Mastering
Pierre Marchand   Mixing,Producer
Rufus Wainwright   Composer,Producer
Tom Schick   Engineer
Pascal Shefteshy   Engineer,Assistant
Bernadette Colomine   Composer,Lyricist
William Shakespeare   Composer,Lyricist
Tom Arndt   Package Coordinator
Pat Barry   Creative Coordinator
Evelyn Morgan   A&R
Amy Maybauer   A&R
Carlos Cicchalli   Production Coordination
Caroline Kousidonis   Producer
Cary Rough   Assistant Photographer
Daniel Boldoc   Piano Technician
Douglas Cordon   Photography
Frederik Pederson   Assistant Photographer
Julian Peplos   Design
Zeynep Yuecal   Producer