Twenty-five years after the release of his debut album, celebrated author, NPR personality, and singer/songwriter Wesley Stace, formerly known as John Wesley Harding, returns with Self-Titled, his first record under his given name.  Stace chose to step out from behind his well-established stage-name for Self-Titled in honor of the increasingly personal nature of his new material.

Self-Titled, a beautifully spare recording for which Wes is backed by The English UK and accompanied by melting string arrangements, features two songs co-written with the Fiery Furnaces’ Eleanor Friedberger (both of which appear in alternate versions on her album Personal Record) as well as a pair of performances from the 10-man vocal choir The Silver Ages. The songs are at once the most literary and also the most direct of Stace’s quarter century-long career; this album, his best.