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Rufus Wainwright, “Out of the Game”

He’s done opera, he’s done cabaret, he’s even done Judy. But with producer Mark Ronson on board for his upcoming seventh album, Out of the Game, Rufus Wainwright promises something a little different. The out troubadour has been telling music journos that the album is his most radio-friendly to date, while Ronson has compared it to the sort of pop that was coming out of Laurel Canyon in the ’70s. And the album’s first single, the title track “Out of the Game,” definitely has that sexy soft-rock sound. There will of course be inevitable comparisons to Elton John, but those lo-fi drums and whiny guitars sound a lot like Rumours to me. Me Decade California pop at its best—even if Out of the Game was recorded in Brooklyn.