Patrick Wolf - Bachelor (Battle One)
2 June 2009
101 Distributions
Review by Nick Brandes

So, I love Patrick Wolf, everything about him.  His flamboyant nature, the poppy goodness that is listening to him, and not to mention I think he’s the next David Bowie, but this album doesn’t do it for me like his previous, The Magic Position.

Perhaps my biggest problem with this record is that it lacks the same thought that was so prevalent on The Magic Position.  You can hear this the most with the lyrics, which sound like someone told him his lyrics were great, so he started believing in his own hype.  For instance, on “Hard Times” he bellows, “As they Dig your ditches,/Count my stitches/Generation justice wishes for/World at war/Final score.”  It sounds less and less like a song then a spoken poem that just happens to be connected with some sort of music.

One reason that this album has so many picks from me, even though I think the lyrics are terrible, is because Wolf’s voice is mesmerizing.  It’s smoky and silky, and has this quality to it that you can’t help but fall for.  You can really hear this on “Damaris.”  He smoothly sings, “My god damned/Damaris/Killed with last kiss/God damned/Damaris/I loved you.”  The melodic quality to his voice saves this record for me.  Not to mention the added violin, more prominent than his previous records, adds so much to the songs, it’s quite good.

The lyrics hold this CD back.  I think my major problem with it is the fact that it doesn’t do anything for new fans of Wolf.  The Magic Position was just so beautifully constructed and pop goodness that it makes this album feel less.  As a quick add on, I recently saw him in concert in all his flamboyant goodness.  Go for Wolf, but expect to be shocked with the Plastiscines French goodness.