Wesley Stace: “Late Style” (2021) CD Review

Wesley Stace is a singer and songwriter who for many years performed and recorded under the name John Wesley Harding, but who is now recording under his real name. His most recent album, Late Style, features original material written by Wesley Stace and David Nagler. David Nagler also plays keyboards and acoustic guitar, as well as providing some backing vocals. Also joining Wesley Stace on this album are Brian J. Campbell on saxophone, Danny Cao on trumpet, Prairie Prince (of The Tubes) on drums, Mauro Refosco on percussion, and Chris Von Sneidern on electric guitar and backing vocals, with Kelly Hogan and Nora O’Connor (both of whom sing with The Decemberists) also providing backing vocals. Wesley Stace, in addition to recording and performing, has written several novels and has taught creative writing, so it should come as no surprise that this album’s lyrical content is a major part of its appeal. On certain tracks, he delivers keen observations about our current social climate, and does so with the necessary and appreciated dash of humor. The music itself mixes pop and jazz elements, and has its own cool style.

The album opens with “Where The Bands Are,” which is an original song, not a cover of the Bruce Springsteen song of the same name. This track has a delicious, jazzy groove, and the lyrics are addressed to someone who likes to be backstage hanging out with the musicians, rather than being out front during the show. I personally like a little of both. When the music is on, I want to be out in front, enjoying it. But between bands, well, I prefer to be backstage, where often the alcohol is better (and free), and where the bathrooms are much cleaner. “And it’s like an apartment, much nicer than yours,” Wesley Stace sings here. Totally true. I was once in a bathroom backstage that was nearly the size of my apartment, and even had a couch in it. However, it did not take me long to learn there is not a lot of action backstage, something it seems the person this song is aimed at doesn’t quite get. When I was in my early twenties, I got a backstage pass for a Grateful Dead concert, and I expected all kinds of wild goings on. Nope, nothing of the sort. All the magic is in the music. This track is a total delight. I love that moment at the end, where the person finds himself or herself alone, because the musicians are on stage.

“Everything All The Time” also features jazzy elements and some sweet backing vocals. Ah yes, the romance of the silver screen is mentioned early, in relation to the reality of the damn little screens “In every hand including mine.” Another line that strikes me is “Every extra is an extrovert,” in part because I used to work as an extra, and I recall just that sort of thing. This song is about how we are able to access everything all at once (like binge-watching a television series, rather than waiting a week for the next episode), and looks back fondly at a time not so long ago when we weren’t inundated with news and with reports from friends and acquaintances about their every movement, a time when a person could relax and easily shut out the world for a bit. The world’s daily pace can be exhausting. “And who recalls the slow news day?” he asks. “Everyone knows everyone else/When too many friends isn’t good for your health.”  I think we all would like to step back. And yet here we are.

Then in “Your Bright Future,” Wesley Stace sings, “It’s all a big mess/Better put your bright future on hold.” This track has a great, prominent bass line, and features some pretty touches that have a sense of magic about them, like from an electronic harp. The first time I listened to this album, I had to tell my girlfriend about these lines: “Who are these people?/Who let them in anyhow?/You say they’ll be leaving/Well, honey, how about now?/I’m too old for this shit.” This track has a seriously cool vibe. The style and delivery remind me at times of some of the later work of Leonard Cohen. Of course, that might also be in part because of Wesley Stace’s talent for writing excellent lyrics. Then, with “Hey! Director,” he takes us again to the set of a movie, the main character of the song being an actor, with several questions for whoever it is that is in charge of this crazy scene. “I wonder if this film will be what it was meant to be.” I wonder that too. I love the jazzy work on guitar. And, yeah, if you’re wondering, there is a direct reference to Cecil B. DeMille. And he mentions extras again (these days they are referred to as “background actors”): “If the shoot don’t kill you, the extras will.” Toward the end he decides, “I can’t believe you talked me into this so easily/I’m going back to music/It makes more sense for me.” This isn’t the first time Wesley Stace has sung about movies. On his album The Name Above The Title he has song titled “The Movie Of Your Life,” in which he sings, “In the movie of your life, they’ll get some real jerk to be you.”

“Come Back Yesterday” has a different vibe, a pop rock song with something of a mid-1960s feel, though the lyrics are about certain people in the present (people many of us wish would disappear to the past). “You want it all to be all about you/And even that isn’t enough/So eat your words and delete your account/You’re old and in the way/Oh, come back yesterday.” As a side note, I always thought the bluegrass group Old & In The Way had one of the best band names, and wish they’d recorded more. “Come Back Yesterday” is followed by “All The Yous,” which has a bossa nova vibe and some surprising lines, such as “You have so many lovers/I think that maybe one of them is me.” I love when a line catches me off guard. Then “The California Fix” has a playful vibe, apparent right from its start. I appreciate the baseball reference in these lines: “I thought it was over/It was just the beginning/The very first inning.” This song also contains a line from Woody Guthrie’s “Do Re Mi,” one of my favorite songs about California: “California is a garden of Eden, a paradise to live in or see.”

“Well Done Everyone” is one of my personal favorites. I love the sarcastic title of this song. Really, that line could be uttered at the end of basically every news report these days (sarcastically, of course). This song begins with some good work on drums. Check out these lyrics: “We’re no longer safe from the rays of the sun/Well done, everyone/There’s always a cowboy out waving a gun/Well done, everyone/So much for progress, I hope we’re all pleased.” People are awful. Not all people, of course, but many more than I would have guessed like eight years ago. The cheerful vibe of this song is just perfect. The song ends on an optimistic note (that I’m not sure he or anyone believes): “But we won’t let ourselves get distracted again/It’s late, but we’ll get it done/Well done, well done/Well done, everyone.” That’s followed by “The Impossible She,” in which he again refers to the movies: “You could make your movie without interference.” “Do Nothing If You Can” is a title that stood out the first time I glanced at the track list. Some great advice, right? “Don’t overwrite/Don’t get so excited/Here’s a plan/Do nothing if you can/Don’t go on all night/Don’t shine your light so bright.” The song is a smooth, jazzy pop number, a strange tune for the days of the pandemic when we couldn’t do all that much, at least not the regular stuff we wanted to do.

“Just Sayin’” is another delightful, fun number with a catchy groove and some wonderful work from the brass section. But of course the lyrics are the main draw. Here is a taste: “I open the door and that makes you nervous/I’ll tempt you once, then I’ll be on my way/Because I go where I feel like going/And I stay where I feel like staying.” Another line that stands out is “It’s good to see your price tag on display.” The album concludes with “How You All Work Me,” a playful song from a songwriter to his audience. “You make me write songs/Look, I’m writing one now/They sometimes take days/But I manage somehow/Then you accuse me of being highbrow/It was you who demanded I made my voice heard/How you all work me.”

CD Track List

1. Where The Bands Are
2. Everything All The Time
3. Your Bright Future
4. Hey! Director
5. Come Back Yesterday
6. All The Yous
7. The California Fix
8. Well Done Everyone
9. The Impossible She
10. Do Nothing If You Can
11. Just Sayin’
12. How You All Work Me

Late Style was released on September 10, 2021 through Omnivore Recordings.