It's obvious someone forgot his initial focus. When Rufus Wainwright set out to record his latest album, Release The Stars, he envisaged "a kind of pared down bare bones affair." Those sentiments must have been lost in translation, as Release displays an elaborate pomp and pageantry from beginning to end.

The popera that Wainwright is known for is again at work, beginning with the impressive "Do I Disappoint You." The track features swirling orchestration peaking in all the right places, with light fluting when the mood is airy and a crash of cymbals when Wainwright asks, "Why does it always have to be chaos?" It's this intelligent consideration of musical and lyrical convergence that marks Wainwright as profound.

The ostentatious nature of Release The Stars continues throughout on tracks like "Slideshow" and the shortened "Tulsa." The former delivers a cacophony of horns that work only because Wainwright knows when to pull back, while the latter clocks in at just over two minutes, serving as the perfect pivot point to bring the show toward its denouement.

In between, Wainwright produces the intimacy needed between such bombastic numbers. The piano-driven "Leaving for Paris No. 2" relies on a wintry arrangement as he sings a sorrowful goodbye. The saloon piano of "Going to a Town" finds Wainwright making his most political statement, simply remarking how tired of America he is.

Release The Stars swoons and sweeps until the final curtain and Rufus Wainwright has delivered music perfectly suited for the elaborate set of the world around us.