Patrick Wolf - Brumalia EP

Oh God, here he comes. After last years technicolour 'Lupercalia', Patrick Wolf returns in wintry sepia mode with a moody new EP featuring collaborations with Alec Empire, Serafina Steer and others. Opener 'Bitten' showcases his strengths with lots of stirring viola, harpsichord and Wolf's deep baritone. He really does have a very low voice for such a camp man. Wolf's weaknesses though, are all too visible on 'Together', the collaboration with Alec Empire.  Wolf certainly lays the emotion on very thick but rather than coming across like a latter day Scott Walker or Billy Mackenzie at his dynamic best, it sounds almost exactly like a terrible late period OMD ballad. Awful stuff. He follows this up with something that musically resembles the theme from 'Crossroads' played by Noah and the Whale, then has a stab at 'Jerusalem' which shows that he could have a future singing the national anthem ahead of international football matches. He really is a silly man but after all that folly he comes up with something like 'Nemoralia' which is much more like his early work, integrating loops and beats in a chilling soundscape only ruined by over emotive vocals.