Patrick Wolf: “Accident & Emergency”
I won’t pretend like I was terribly familiar with the work of Patrick Wolf before “Accident & Emergency” graced my speakers a month or so ago, but the few tracks that had been passed my way by friends and acquaintances embodied a dark intimacy and morbidity that failed to spark my interest. With new single “Accident & Emergency” (off his upcoming Magic Positions LP), however, Wolf has won me over completely. The poppiest thing I’ve yet to hear from him, “Accident” possesses a downright sprightly quality and an electronic bounce about it that’s noticeably absent in much of his earlier work. One might be surprised to find these qualities in a song that examines life in a society plagued by terror, but repeated listens reveals the song’s ultimate message to be a celebration of resilience rather than a resignation to paranoia and uncertainty.
The instrumentation further reflects the struggle between the severe subject matter and Wolf’s unrestrained optimism, as all-too-real sirens jostle for position in the mix alongside buoyant brass lines and stuttering electronic beeps and whooshes. Despite the underlying conflict, Wolf perseveres with confidence and a newfound pop sensibility, and the track even goes so far as to air on the anthemic side of things with a rousing refrain like “Accident/Emergency/Bringing out the best in me”. Perhaps it’s my obsessive listens to A Weekend In The City that has me so inclined to view a song examining life in modern society in such a favorable light, but Wolf has done a masterful job of finding the perfect balance between social awareness and sprightly pop sensibility, and you can’t ask for much more from a song than that.
MP3: “Accident & Emergency” - Patrick Wolf ((highly recommended))
In somewhat related news, I’ve found myself completely in love with “Running Up That Hill”, thanks to Placebo’s incredible cover of the track, my review of which some of you may have noticed I upgraded from a 7 to a much more deserving 8. Thus, I was delighted to find this Patrick Wolf cover of the track from a recent live show, which is available below along with the aforementioned Placebo cover that’s been owning my iPod lately.
Bonus MP3s:
“Running Up That Hill” (Live @ Islington) - Patrick Wolf
“Running Up That Hill” - Placebo ((highly recommended))
I’m definitely thirsting for more goodness from Mr. Wolf now, so if anyone’s got anything by him to suggest for me don’t hesitate to get at me in the comments.