Rufus Wainwright’s new album, All Days Are Nights: Songs For Lulu, may be a hard sell for anyone who doesn’t like a little pretension stirred into their pop diet. The record contains three adaptations of Shakespeare sonnets, one of which he performed on Tavis Smiley’s show on PBS in the above clip.
“A Woman’s Face” is a more straightforward track than some of the more avant leanings on Wainwright’s record, but he gives a touching performances of it here, alone at the piano, allowing his impressive vocal range to unfold, demonstrating how affecting he can be in this stripped down format. It’s somewhat reminiscent of the Randy Newman-isms of Plush’s epic More You Becomes You album, which is some impressive company to keep.
