Here at TotallyVivid, we loved Patrick Wolf's single House, which the immensely talented singer-songwriter released earlier this year.
It heralded in a new wave of praise and enthusiasm for the man who so many felt deserved far more recognition for what he was doing.
With his latest album Lupercalia breaching the Top 40 and being received with pretty much universal praise, Wolf has a lot to be happy about. He heads out on tour this October and November:
Bold, tuneful piano melodies and a soaring opening line of 'Oh I love this house, it gives me the greatest peace I've ever known'? You'd be forgiven for thinking this sounds more like something by Keane, but no, It's the new single from Patrick Wolf and it's pretty damn good.
Patrick has always had a shifting flirtation between pop and experimenting with a far more outre angle of his distinctive sound - with a voice as recognisable as his, there's somewhat of luxury afforded to you; you can do whatever you want sound-wise with the end product always remaining something easily defined as a 'Patrick Wolf track'.
House perhaps represents him at his most traditionally 'pop' then. Not that chart positions are anything to go by in regards to an artist as individual as Patrick, but his 2007 album saw him on the very verges of breaking through to the mainstream. Its singles were the perfect blend of inherent British quirk and inspired pop joy - for a fan then, it was rather disappointing to see them stall just outside the top 40, Wolf forever destined to remain the great unkept secret of pop. Those 'in the know' in the know were many, all avid supporters of his music, all so keen for the wider world to finally wake up and embrace Patrick too.
And House stands as the track to do that. The second single from his forthcoming Lupercalia album (Patrick is a big fan of 'wolfy' sounding names; his debut LP was called Lycanthropy), House was inspired by long drives through the wilds of California. And the track reflects that sense of scale in its wide, expansive choruses - it plunges and dives, soars and glides with the emotion of a soul finally set free after being cramped up in troubles and drama for so long.
Everything about Patrick's new album campaign hints that this is the moment, the time, when he will finally make that transition to the big time. It's palpable in the music itself, you can taste the potential right there in every beautiful, poetically wrought line of House. Now signed to Mercury and enjoying A list airplay on Radio 2, the backing is all there - with August seeing Patrick taking to the stage at Reading and Leeds festival. Surely time for the wolf to claim his crown?
