Patrick Wolf – The Bachelor

It’s been a good two years since Patrick Wolf released the critically acclaimed ‘The Magic Position’, and by the opening melody of first track ‘Hard Times’, well, second track if you take into consideration the frankly pointless intro ‘Kriegspiel’, this new release is extremely exciting indeed. A sharp, snappy violin trill that sounds just like a future James Bond song forms the basis of the melody. It is the more virtuosic elements of Patrick Wolf, especially the use of violin, which really allow him to stand out. ‘Hard Times’ possesses a somewhat fundamental combative nature which is certainly reflected in Wolf’s lyrics - ‘In these hard times I’ll work harder for revolution’. A common criticism of Patrick Wolf is how he has a tendency to possibly go slightly over the top with a lot of his work, and this is slightly creeping into ‘Hard Times’, especially with the use of a close-harmony choir at the end.

The discordance of ‘Oblivion’ is interesting, and coupled with its use of loops, at times sounds very much like Micachu & the Shapes. ‘Oblivion’ features lo-fi elements together with a glittery sheen, an interesting mix but whether it’s a successful combination is another matter. Luckily for Wolf, he seems to be able to get away with it, his character and nature going some way to account for it. What he does not get away with though is his increasingly flamboyant singing, which reaches a level of cringe not too distant from the likes of High School Musical. With ‘The Bachelor’ this excessive flamboyance seems to be infiltrating further than just the vocals, particularly evident of the instrumental accompaniment in ‘Damaris’.

Title track ‘The Bachelor’ is a slight throwback to Wolf’s incorporation of an essence of Irish folk ceilidhs into his earlier works. The combination of scratchy violins and clumpy piano playing is akin to such influences. First single ‘Vulture’ is an electric masterpiece taking much influence from the 80s with vintage sounding synths and effective reverb. Patrick Wolf collaborated with Alec Empire, and his industrial electro edge is certainly shown in songs such as ‘Battle’.

‘The Bachelor’ is not as complete as ‘The Magic Position’, and perhaps Patrick Wolf is trying to play with too many ideas, but this is a very promising album.