CityLife

Patrick Wolf - The Magic Position (Universal)

A VETERAN songster, aged 23, Patrick Wolf's new album suggests he is still on the rise.

With its marching drumbeats and slowly ascending strings that burst into a riotous explosion of colour and magic - opening track Overture kicks off proceedings perfectly.

The young one has at times been accused of overindulgence - and it is a fair point - but Wolf somehow avoids veering into unlistenable territory by stitching together his madcap array of styles and influences and crafting them into catchy and addictive pop, with edge.

Some moments are all Duran Duran, then there's the dark eeriness of Mad World era Tears for Fears, firework whizzing moments, full-on orchestral moments and 1980s computer game bleeps.

Chaos

And throughout this joyously complex chaos - that has you intoxicated and shoe-tapping in spite of yourself - there is the dark underbelly of depression rearing its head in almost every lyric.

Magpie is a divinely soul churning moment with strings that rise and fall, with chest-constricting sorrow. Simplistic lyrics, recalling nursery rhymes, and the ominously witchy vocals of Marianne Faithfull captivate as she breathlessly recounts a tale of loneliness, desperation and triumph. Moments later, in X, the music whips up an entirely different more upbeat and love-drenched emotional storm.

Through every twist and turn, every string plucked and every album released, Wolf seems to captivate faithful fans and sweep up new ones. Like Wolf himself, with his short shorts and glitter, the music is strange and not necessarily immediate but it has a kind of magic and it certainly isn't forgettable.

Released on February 26.

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