Rufus Wainwright Salutes His Inner Lulu

Rufus Wainwright's built his career writing simple pop songs, but he's much more high-minded than you'd think. The singer, who wrote an opera called Prima Donna last year, has written a new album inspired by Shakespeare's sonnets.

All Days Are Nights: Songs For Lulu is out March 23 in Canada, April 5 in the U.K. and April 20 in the United States. The title for the follow-up to 2007's Release The Stars is inspired by Shakespeare's 43rd sonnet, and three of its tunes feature pieces incorporated from the Bard's poetry.

In case you're wondering, the Lulu in the title is not a reference to the Scottish singer. It's Wainwright's own nod to the "Dark Lady" in Shakespeare's sonnets, and the singer describes "Lulu" as the "dark, brooding, dangerous woman that lives within all of us" in a recent interview with the University Of Austin's KUT 90.5 FM.

Interestingly, All Days Are Nights also features a tune called "Martha," though it's not known whether it's about his sister, Martha Wainwright. For all we know, it could also be about the Friedrich Von Flotow opera. Or it could be a Doctor Who reference. (Probably not, though.)

Wainwright will most likely play tunes from All Days Are Nights on tour in the U.K. this spring.

You can see Wainwright here:

April 15 Glasgow, Scotland @ Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
April 16 Edinburgh, Scotland @ Usher Hall
April 17 Sheffield, England @ Sheffield City Hall
April 19 Gateshead, England @ The Sage
April 20 Birmingham, England @ Symphony Hall
April 22 Manchester, England @ Manchester Apollo
April 23 Bristol, England @ Colston Hall
April 25 Nottingham, England @ The Royal Centre Nottingham
April 26 Oxford, England @ New Theatre Oxford
April 29 Ipswich, England @ Regent Theatre
April 30 Krems, Austria @ Donaufestival

Here are the songs on All Days Are Nights: Songs For Lulu:

"Who Are You New York?"
"Sad With What I Have"
"Martha"
"Give Me What I Want And Give It To Me Now!"
"True Loves"
"Sonnet 43"
"Sonnet 20"
"Sonnet 10"
"The Dream"
"What Would I Ever Do With A Rose?"
"Les Feux D'Artifice T'Appellent"
"Zebulon"