I’ll admit that Patrick Wolf is forever tainted in my perception after his infamous temper tantrum earlier this year where he threw his mike stand (like a girl) at a crew member. Not cool, Patrick, not cool. Anyway, now Wolf is back on his best behaviour and has released the third single from his album The Bachelor complete with an unsurprising high-fashion costume video to coincide with it. Unfortunately Wolf’s explanation of the song turns out to be more enticing than the music he has created to tell the tale; the story of two lovers united across race/aesthetic barriers isn’t given the treatment it deserves through a wholly nondescript tune and a vacuous, overly theatrical video. Said video sees Wolf frolicking with The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus actress Gwendoline Christie, an actress narcissistically hand-picked by the performer for her resemblance to him. ‘Damaris’ is a mid-tempo affair which doesn’t reach the climax intimated by the title and as it peters out with an unending call to “rise up” you start to grieve over the 5 minutes and 28 seconds of your life that Wolf has unduly robbed from you.
Words: Lisa Hughes
