Patrick Wolf’s New Album “Sun☽ark and Riverlight” Brings Him Full Circle

By: Eric Freedlander –

Celebrating 10 years in the music industry, Patrick Wolf’s recently released Sun☽ark and Riverlight is a double album of some of his most popular tracks.

Rather than releasing a rarities album, Wolf takes to his personal favorites from his own discography and strips them down using only a piano and an acoustic guitar. What listeners get are new arrangements that offer new life to some of Wolf’s most cherished tracks including “Overture,” and “Wind in the Wires.” The eight track first half of the album, titled Sun☽ark, takes us into a scary and unknown time in Wolf’s life during the early stages of his career and thus contains much darker songs that are full of melancholy.

The second half of the album, Riverlight, contains some of Wolf’s more uplifting songs. Throughout the album, Wolf depicts a time in his life where he had both hope from relationships and positive creativity from his solitude from society. In his song “London” Wolf describes a time in his life where despite being so alone, he has never felt so fulfilled. The intimacy of solitude seems to uplift his spirits.

The anthem of the double release is “Overture.” As the only song given a music video thus far, the remake of “Overture” makes Patrick Wolf’s sound much more accessible. The softer acoustic sound and deep vocals flow in the new version, while the original, the song sounded far too mechanical. The remake’s use of a symphony makes the song much more bearable and adds several new layers to the track.

While this album serves as the musical biography of Patrick Wolf’s first 10 years in the music industry, the album is far from a greatest hits album and while some hardcore fans might feel like this album leaves a poor taste in their mouths, the new arrangements add a different perspective to Wolf’s tracks and allow listeners to see a different side of him.

Essential Tracks: “Overture,” “London,” and “Together.”