Rufus! May 15th!

This really is shaping up to be the best music year in recent memory. I should start keeping a list now so I don't leave anybody out in any end-of-year lists I see fit to make. Anyway, this just in:

Rufus Wainwright will release his fifth album, Release the Stars, on Geffen on May 15. Pet Shop Boys singer Neil Tennant executive produced the Want Two follow-up, which is Wainwright's first self-produced album. Producers Marius DeVries and Andy Bradfield mixed the record, and it features contributions from Richard Thompson, Joan Wasser (Antony and the Johnsons), and actress Siân Phillips as well.

(Ok, never heard of Siân Phillips before right now, but I am delighted and relieved to tell you all that she is of no relation to Bijou. Siân appears to be a now-elderly Welsh actress who was once married to Peter O'Toole. Why she's on Rufus' new album remains to be seen.)

The album cover...


And finally, a link to the good news so you can see for yourself.