Patrick Wolf: Waiting In The Wings

For better or worse, the growth of any artist from one endeavour to the next often proves fascinating. Patrick Wolf's own personal evolution has been laid bare, by way of his fifth studio album, Lupercalia. “I remember at the end of The Bachelor tour what it was like to do those songs live - when the songs were about wandering through through forests, you know, concerning my best friend's alcoholism... another friend committed suicide and my dad's cancer, putting that on stage... and then there was the Magic Position at the end of it, and I wondered what I really wanted to do next.” Wolf explains of his recent transition. “(I thought) I would really like to spread a bit more love after bringing people to a darker place. I'm very happy now that I can go on stage and spread some love and optimism.”

Wolf goes on to suggest that the inspiration for such a resurgence was borne from a kind of epiphany. Whereas for much of his career the young Englishman’s craft has been concerned with tall fairytales and whimsical fantasies, Lupercalia appears rooted in honest introspection. “The writing gets in the way and translates experiences into metaphors and fairytales,” Wolf confesses of his acclaimed back-catalog, “but I started to put the books of Hans Christen Andersen away and actually looking out the window for once, rather than going off on fairytales and actually getting to grips with the fairytale of walking down the street and being a human being, 27, 28 years old... being Patrick Wolf and having a boyfriend named William and being about to get married. ‘I thought, wow that's kind of a fairytale of its own. I should celebrate this right now.’”

Ultimately, however, Wolf is sure to clarify that Lupercalia should be interpreted as an article drawn from a palette of both light and dark. “I always think that you can't present one emotion without contrasting it with another, you know. It's unfair on people. Without context, it's very important to contrast the dark with the light otherwise you have no idea of what you're painting,” he muses. “It sounds really pretentious, but my Mum brought me up to think that you can't have a shadow without some sort of light and, in a way, there's a really melancholy heart to this and I've always said that.”

In realising the intricate vision of his fifth studio album, Wolf would seize total freedom within the studio, again taking the producing reigns for the project. “I had the thing that I had always dreamed of: free reign and complete control of my work,” Wolf recalls. ”It wasn’t like ‘Are you sure?’, it was more, ‘Go ahead, do what you want to do!’... and it was in the budget! It was that triple power, you know, the holy trinity: the trust, the budget and creative control.”

Naturally, then, Wolf reflects fondly upon the recording process of Lupercalia. “Well, I'd say it was the most grandest thing. It was a little bit like being the prince a Baroque palace being surrounded by the Medicis or something! It was a bit like, ‘I want a string octet today!’ or ‘I want to go to LA next week’... I wanted to make an exotic album, that sounded exotically human. I got to see so many great studios and work with great arrangers and really just do something that was the opposite of Lycanthropy,” Wolf reveals. “ Lupercalia has just been just that. I'm 27 years old and I'm out of the cage.”

Wolf’s words ring true in another sense, with the rest of the year filled out with a hectic touring schedule. As the Englishman explains, he’s no stranger to life on the road. “I always try to make the most of any adventure. When I was younger, that was where I started. When everybody else was doing their degrees and A-levels at school, I was in the back of a car with a ukulele and viola, or in Germany, playing some bar in Spain or playing a bookshop in America. I started really hand to mouth, playing to people folk music and that's what I got used to.”

It’s no surprise, then, that Wolf takes touring with a degree of seriousness, for many years having juggled a personal life with a burgeoning career. “I would be the person that would be drunk at the party, but I have a flight in one hour. Bang, I'll wake up and I'll be at the airport and like, it's showbiz. The show must always go on and I've never canceled a show in my life and it's important to me. So, in a way, I was born to perform and make a show out of life.”

The question, then, has to be asked: does Wolf have any immediate plans to return to Australia to celebrate Lupercalia? “You know, I had a meeting today with my management today,” he begins, “and I asked them, ‘What the fuck is happening with Australia?’ That was one of my first questions because I always expect that, when I release an album around December, when it’s Summertime, that I'll come over and do some shows.”

Alas, opportunity has not come knocking as yet. It is exciting, however, to identify such enthusiasm in Wolf’s voice. “If there's anybody (reading), any festival booker... like, help me, because I'm going to come over because it really makes a difference to me. I love playing in Australia,” he declares. “I want to put on a great show for you guys! I've had so many great moments in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney and Perth, great shows there. I don't know if I did something wrong, if you want me back, then call my manager and I'll be there in a hurry.”

Wolf’s parting words - to be read one final push for his devotees down under - might hopefully be enough to seal the deal. “I know I'm not a young hot artist anymore, I'm not old enough to be a legend, I'm somewhere in between and I've got a lot of love to give and a lot of stories to tell!”

Fingers crossed we’ll see Patrick Wolf booked to hit our shores in no time.

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