Good to Great
I imagine Patrick Wolf performing the songs on “The Magic Position” on the largest high school theatre stage in the world, alternatively the most popular kid and the biggest outsider. This is quite a change from the kid that I imagined taking long ostracized trips into gothic forests or moping in the corner of his spartan orphanage room on his previous two albums “Lycanthropy” and “Wind in the Wires”. Even though Wolf has made his most intimate feelings more accessible with gummy melodies and colorful flourishes, his weary croon still imparts the sadness of his darker endeavors. Patrick’s voice has always been capable and intriguing, but it is the drama and excess and indulgence, indicative of his youth, that makes “The Magic Position” arguably his best album to date.
Patrick has been in music news a lot lately what with his New York City performance falling into disarray, the firing of his drummer, and the subsequent declaration that he was quitting music in November, followed by a quick detraction and a lashing out about public attention of him. He chalks all of this up to the exhaustion from touring over the last several years and more importantly the year-long production of “The Magic Position”. It would be easy to dismiss such emotional irrationality as being selfish, childish, and unnecessarily whiny, but I think it is indicative of the greatest strength of album: its raw, emotional youth.
“The Magic Position” is about a relationship and listening to it makes you feel like you are breaking up with someone. Wolf begs for Liberacci comparisons as he huffs and puffs until he is out of breath. When I was a kid and I was faced with a soda-fountain, I would often (with a little peer pressure) make a ‘suicide’, mixing a little bit of every soft-drink offered by the machine including the standard lemonade or punch offering. I feel like Patrick Wolf takes a similar approach on this album, mixing all the popular influences (pop, house, dance, hip-hop, tribal beats, etc.) with his standard orchestral flourishes and theatrical showmanship and an eye towards media reaction.
The titular track “The Magic Position” is Patrick’s best song to date and it is one of my favorites of the year. It is dripping with drama and camp (two of the things that Patrick does best) and is outrageously catchy, fun, and provocative. I find myself singing it all the time. Unfortunately, he never matches this level of playfulness anywhere else on the album. The second half of the album is really strong with lovely ballads like “Augustine” and “Enchanted”, but these feel more like high-school musical standards than the edgy, upbeat songs like “Overture”, “Magic Position”, and “Bluebells”. So there is the more experimental first half for the electronic set and fans of Antony and the Johnsons and the smoother, classical second half for the teary-eyed nostalgists.
“The Magic Position” is for anyone who wants a little more drama, emotional vulnerability, and pomp and circumstance in their lives. Either way, you’ve got to put the title track on your next party mix.
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