Wesley Stace is an artist with a wealth of talents. The British-born musician began releasing albums more than 35 years ago under the moniker John Wesley Harding, putting out Elvis Costello-like indie power-pop albums like Here Comes the Groom (1990) and The Name Above the Title (1991), later shifting to more folk-oriented works before reverting to his given name with records like Self-Titled (2013) and Wesley Stace’s John Wesley Harding (his 2017 collaboration with the Jayhawks). He’s also found time to write several acclaimed novels, teach at prestigious universities, and even, starting with his last album, tweak his musical stylings in subtle but previously unimaginable ways.
His 2021 album Late Style saw Stace collaborate with composer, arranger, and multi-instrumentalist David Nagler to give his music a more cosmopolitan edge, incorporating Latin rhythms and what his Bandcamp page called “gathered from a place where jazz and pop and soul and country blend into something colorful, seductive and smooth”. His punk-inspired, barbed wit was still intact, but perhaps inspired by his comfortable middle-aged status, the words were given the exotic musical gravitas of a good stiff drink. Stace teamed up with Nagler once again on One Last Heist, a delightfully warm and stylistically sophisticated new album recorded in Stace’s adopted hometown of Philadelphia.
The core band is made up of Nagler on keyboards, Eddie Carlson on bass, and Stéphane San Juan (Caetano Veloso, David Byrne, Marcos Valle) on drums. A variety of other musicians contribute here and there, as evidenced by the occasional blast of horns, shimmer of strings, extra chug of percussion, and the cool backing vocals that waft in and out. In a way, One Last Heist was made in the way Stace wanted to make Late Style, but COVID restrictions prevented that from happening in the first place.
Stace explains in the press notes: “We’d intended the previous album to be the most elegant record imaginable, but COVID was a scruffy time and much of it was recorded in isolation in far-flung locations, without the chemistry and esprit de corps of musicians playing together in real time in the same space. It just couldn’t be done how we wanted. So the prime motive here was to go one better, to arrange the songs first, then record them as a band, playing live in the studio.” Stace added that he intended One Last Heist to be “a ‘players’ record, allowing for expressive solos, and room to relax a little”.
A great example of Wesley Stace’s wit living comfortably among the more musically adventurous sounds is a track like “Hanging Up the Sickle”, where Death decides to hang it up and leave the job to someone else (“Now I am retiring / Which means somebody’s hiring”) alongside a hip-shaking Latin beat, Nagler’s playful piano runs, and even a sly Martin Scorsese reference (hint: at one point, he rhymes “sickle” with “Bickle”).
That musical aesthetic also spans a lot of sub-genres. The slick, understated rhythms and saxophone solo from Stuart Bogie give the breezy “Penelope” a sophisti-pop kick. The thick Fender Rhodes chords that introduce “Not My Speed” combine with refined, Bacharachian arrangements that wrap around Stace’s hushed vocals.
Meanwhile, the jazzy ebullience of “Get It in Your Fingers” keeps the upbeat numbers plentiful. The tempo is bright, the band has the dazzling interplay of a well-heeled jazz combo, and the lyrics refreshingly extol the virtues of going on impulse and eschewing technology: “Trusting your devices comes at a cost,” he sings, “When the signal’s down, you know you’re gonna get lost”.
Many of the highlights of this beguiling album include the warm, soulful AM radio pop of “A Funny One”, in which Stace reaffirms his stance as a songwriter who can put a twist on the subject of romance just as well as tackling global affairs; the haunting, moody “This Knowledge Dies with Me”; and, in an interesting twist, a full-on, grand piano-led ballad, “Thoughts and Prayers”, which, like Randy Newman’s best work, sarcastically sides with narrow-minded conservatives who are clearly on the wrong side of history.
As far as the title goes, does One Last Heist indicate that Stace might be, like the Death figure he sings about, hanging it up? He’s always seemed to be too sly to state things in that direct a fashion, and maybe to illustrate a point obliquely, the record’s final track, “Hello Dead Horse”, is about a group getting together for one final cash grab: “Hello Dead Horse / Can I ride you anew / I’ll whip you ’round the course / Without remorse / Cause it’s your fault too.” While that doesn’t necessarily answer the question, the relatively new musical style Stace has adopted suits him spectacularly well, and he clearly doesn’t seem tired of it. This horse is alive and well.