If you can’t stand cookie-cutter pop radio or shallow, hype-heavy indie rock, you probably already love Rufus Wainwright.

If you don’t already know about him, “I Don’t Know What It Is” from his 2004 album, “Want One,” is a perfect place to start.

It has the hallmark of a great Rufus song: lyrics that are at once heartbreakingly introspective and whimsically sarcastic. It has an extended song form that unfurls more like a little symphony than a pop song and robust melodies that relentlessly move the music forward, with elaborate orchestrations that illuminate all of the song’s hidden treasures.

The lyrics read like a stream-of-consciousness monologue about confused illusions of self-fulfillment. The song’s form reflects that mood in its constant shifting between different sections and ever-surprising introductions of new musical material. Definitions of verse, chorus and bridge all wash away in the milieu.

The song’s straightforward rhythmic drive serves as a tabula rasa for Wainwright to etch with slight variations in texture, melody and harmony. Its climax arrives at just the right time, capping a slow burning, five-minute buildup.

For listeners frustrated with the lack of creativity in modern music, Wainwright should ease some of the pain.

As Zac Johnson of All Music Guide put it, “Wainwright could be singing lists of names out of the phone book and it would still be more exciting and inventive than 99 percent of the other albums out there.”

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