Brandi Carlisle and Elton John ask us Who Believes in Angels
GREGG SHAPIRO | Q Music
greggshapiro@aol.com
Did anyone have alt-country on their Perfume Genius bingo card? If so, good for you! Because that’s the dominant, if subtle, sound on the fittingly titled Glory (Matador), the seventh Perfume Genius (aka Mike Hadreas) album, and the first in three years. Easily the most accessible release in PG’s catalog, Glory features a stellar line-up of guest artists including nonbinary musician Meg Duffy (of Hand Habits fame), Aldous Harding, legendary drummer Jim Keltner, Blake Mills (who also produced), and Hadreas’ longtime partner Alan Wyffels (who also co-wrote some of the songs). The results are utterly gorgeous, user-friendly compositions that play like the ideal combination of the personal and the universal. Each listen reveals something new and, well, glorious.
Even if another classical music effort wasn’t on your Rufus Wainwright bingo card, there’s no reason to be surprised by Dream Requiem (Warner Classics). Early on, Wainwright, the gay son of singer/songwriters Loudon Wainwright III and the late Kate McGarrigle, made it clear that opera was his first love. Dream Requiem gives him three classical albums to his name. Described as “an amalgamation of two musical and creative ideas” that took shape during the pandemic and the California wildfires, Dream Requiem features Meryl Streep reciting Lord Byron’s 1816 poem “Darkness” as soprano Anna Prohaska and Chœur de Radio France, and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, under the direction of conductor Mikko Franck, perform the musical portion of Wainwright’s composition.
Some artists deserve their own bingo game altogether. Over the last few years, queer singer/songwriter Brandi Carlile’s collaborative work with Joni Mitchell, Tanya Tucker, and Brandy Clark (for all of which she received Grammy Awards), have illustrated her talent in that area. In his own right, Elton John has also proven himself to be an adept collaborator, from “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart,” his 1976 chart-topping duet with Kiki Dee, to entire albums of collabs. So it makes sense that a collaboration such as Who Believes in Angels? (Interscope) by Elton John and Brandi Carlile would come to be. All 10 songs were co-written by John, Carlile, producer Andrew Watt, and John’s longtime co-songwriter Bernie Taupin. Album opener “The Rose of Laura Nyro” is an affectionate homage to the late queer musical genius Laura Nyro, and the album closes with “When This Old World Is Done With Me,” which sounds like one of John’s most personal compositions, sung from the perspective of a 78-year-old man coming to terms with history, and facing his remaining time with dignity.