Poses (Expanded Edition)

Despite its title, Wainwright's follow-up to his 1998 debut sounds remarkably honest, even confessional, underneath his louche voice and lush arrangements. Wainwright catalogues his vices in the catchy "Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk" and condemns a cad in the morose "Evil Angel." With the help of sister Martha, he slyly twists his father's ironic ode to self-reliance, "One Man Guy," and soberly contemplates his own mortality while "In a Graveyard.”