After his last album, the 2007 glam-rock epic Magic Position, Patrick Wolf had a horrific revelation: He wasn't being pretentious enough. So the art-damaged, beyond-androgynous U.K. poet goes all out here. You want great songs about minotaurs? "Theseus" features a spoken-word interlude from actress Tilda Swinton. He plays around with Celtic folk with violinist Eliza Carthy. "Vulture" is an electro-pop explosion with Wolf chanting, "You're d-d-d-dead meat," over buzzing beats from Nineties digital-hardcore king Alec Empire. It's all gloriously indulgent — Wolf is one kook who should never try to resist his own kookiness.

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ROB SHEFFIELD

(Posted: Jun 22, 2009)