This might sound weird coming from a guy who once banned clapping from his performances, but Rufus Wainwright is hoping his latest album makes you lose control. The Canadian singer-songwriter entered an NYC studio with esteemed producer Mark Ronson (Amy Winehouse, the Black Lips) earlier this week to work on a new set of songs that he promises will have you shuffling your feet in no time.
"The main objective -- not for the entire [album], necessarily, but for portions of it -- is to be danceable," Wainwright recently told Rolling Stone. "I just want to make something that you love, driving around in your car listening or losing your mind to on a dance floor. Something to serenade us through these very, very troubling times."
The carefree side of Wainwright has been absent for the last little while, what with him taking a few years to pen his Prima Donna opera and letting loose last year's hauntingly intimate All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu. For the record, since he started recording the reportedly poppier material, he's felt like a new man.
"We've been in for three days, and I already look 20 years younger," he explained. "I have to start looking around for motorcycle outfits or something, I feel so damn cool!"
Of the songs being laid to tape, Wainwright mentioned "Candles," a tribute to his late mother, Kate McGarrigle, and "I'm Out of the Game," a song about giving up on stardom. "Hopefully it's a sarcastic number -- but who knows," Wainwright said.
Chances are he's having a bit of a laugh. Wainwright made no bones about why he hooked up with Ronson.
"One is that he's made a lot of hit records," Wainwright admitted, adding, "Two, the records sound amazing. And three is that he's really good-looking."
"The main objective -- not for the entire [album], necessarily, but for portions of it -- is to be danceable," Wainwright recently told Rolling Stone. "I just want to make something that you love, driving around in your car listening or losing your mind to on a dance floor. Something to serenade us through these very, very troubling times."
The carefree side of Wainwright has been absent for the last little while, what with him taking a few years to pen his Prima Donna opera and letting loose last year's hauntingly intimate All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu. For the record, since he started recording the reportedly poppier material, he's felt like a new man.
"We've been in for three days, and I already look 20 years younger," he explained. "I have to start looking around for motorcycle outfits or something, I feel so damn cool!"
Of the songs being laid to tape, Wainwright mentioned "Candles," a tribute to his late mother, Kate McGarrigle, and "I'm Out of the Game," a song about giving up on stardom. "Hopefully it's a sarcastic number -- but who knows," Wainwright said.
Chances are he's having a bit of a laugh. Wainwright made no bones about why he hooked up with Ronson.
"One is that he's made a lot of hit records," Wainwright admitted, adding, "Two, the records sound amazing. And three is that he's really good-looking."
