All Days Are Nights: Songs For Lulu

Rufus Wainwright’s mother, folksinger Kate McGarrigle, died in January, and her four-year battle with cancer took its toll on her son’s dandy grandeur. Now he’s stripped down to just his? sadness and his Steinway keys on All Days Are Night: Songs For Lulu. These songs require patience: Right when you think they’ll get stronger, they lose momentum. But then, that’s how grief works, too, and Wainwright lays it bare with heartbreaking simplicity here. B

Download These:
Late-night phone call Martha at amazon.com
Funereal ballad Zebulon at amazon.com

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• By Melissa Maerz