Rufus Wainwright returns to form with his well-balanced new album.

Rufus Wainwright’s new album, Out of the Game (Decca Records, $13), is a homecoming of sorts. The disc brings the critically acclaimed singer-­songwriter back to the pop-music world after several years spent penning operas and classical pieces and working on conceptual projects like his re-creation of Judy Garland’s famed 1961 Carnegie Hall concert.

“Working in the classical idiom for a while gave me both a respect and also a slight disdain for the strict nature of how that world works,” he says, before adding with a laugh, “It felt like it was high time to let loose and just enjoy my day job, which is being a pop sensation — in my own mind, anyway.”

Wainwright enlisted a variety of players to guest, including Wilco’s Nels Cline, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Nick Zinner and Brooklyn soul combo the Dap-Kings. Notably, the record also finds Wainwright working with white-hot English producer Mark Ronson, who has collaborated with Adele and the late Amy Winehouse. “For a while I was pinching­ myself, wondering why he would even be ­interested in [working with] me,” ­Wainwright says. “But by the third or fourth day, I was assured of his intentions and really felt such a tremendous amount of love from him, both as a person and as an artist. It ended up being this great bromance.”

The songs on Out of the Game reflect several recent momentous changes in ­Wainwright’s life, including his engagement to partner Jorn Weisbrodt; the birth of his daughter, Viva; and the death of his mother,­ noted singer-­songwriter Kate McGarrigle. Though he’s been known as a doyen of depression, ­Wainwright thinks he’s found the right balance to his work.

“Admittedly, I will probably always have an arch, depressed angle to what I do,” he says. “I tend to be someone who seeks out drama in my life. That being said, with this album the ingredients are well proportioned; there’s a little bit of everything. I’m happy that I’m finally at that point in my life where I can feel the gamut of emotions that are up for offer.”