The Secret Series

🎧 What The Secret Series Is

  • Secret Series is a re-imagining of Wesley Stace’s full back catalog, with new solo acoustic recordings of his earlier albums, presented alongside lyric books for each release.

  • It’s being released as a limited edition subscription, with signed books, CDs, and extras for subscribers.

📣 Critical & Fan Reaction

1. Limited formal reviews so far

  • Because The Secret Series is chiefly a limited, subscription-based project, there aren’t many established music-criticism reviews published yet for the individual Secret Series volumes on major outlets like Pitchfork or AllMusic.

  • Listings on sites like Discogs confirm releases and track details, and some users note these entries as collectible and interesting for fans of his songwriting.

2. Community / Social media buzz

  • Some posts from official and fan social accounts mention that remaining copies of certain Secret Series book/CD editions are being sold, which implies collector demand and appreciation from fans.

🧠 What Reviewers Say About the Context

Even if specific Secret Series discs haven’t been widely reviewed yet, other Wesley Stace records give good context for what fans and critics like about his work — especially in stripped-down forms:

• Songs and songwriting recognized for depth and craft

  • Stace is well regarded for his clever lyrics, storytelling, and versatility across folk, pop, jazz, and Americana styles.

• Acoustic and re-interpretive settings are appreciated by listeners

  • Outside the Secret Series, critics have praised him in different contexts (e.g., his Late Style album) for his warm vocal delivery, stylistic range, and thoughtful arrangements — which suggest why solo acoustic reinterpretations might appeal to fans.

💡 Summary — Secret Series Reviews Snapshot

  • No extensive formal press reviews yet for individual Secret Series CDs (likely because they’re limited release).

  • Discogs entries and fan posts confirm that collectors and followers are engaging with the series.

  • Based on broader critical praise for Stace’s songwriting and reinterpretations in other recent work, the Secret Series is likely appreciated by fans of his music for the intimate, acoustic takes on his catalog.

If you want, I can look up specific fan review quotes or ratings from places like Amazon, RateYourMusic, or fan blogs once more volumes have been publicly released. Just tell me which volume (e.g., Here Comes the Groom, Why We Fight, etc.) you’re most interested in!

What is the best approach to reacting to Wes Stace’s Secret Series CDs?

The best way to react to Wes Stace’s Secret Series is to approach it less like a product to review and more like a private reading or devotional listening experience. These recordings ask for a different posture than a standard album drop.

Here’s a framework that tends to work especially well:

1. Listen as if you’re overhearing, not consuming

These are intimate, retrospective re-tellings of songs you may already know. The goal isn’t polish or surprise—it’s presence.

  • Listen in one sitting if possible

  • Use good headphones or quiet speakers

  • Avoid multitasking

Think: late-night confession, not performance.

2. Let comparison fall away

A common instinct is to measure these versions against the original albums. That usually flattens what’s actually happening.

Instead of asking:

  • Is this better than the original?

Try asking:

  • What does this song reveal now, years later, in this voice?

These are songs lived with, not songs revisited for novelty.

3. Treat the CDs as companion pieces to the lyric books

The Secret Series really lives at the intersection of:

  • voice

  • memory

  • text

Read the lyrics while listening—or immediately after. You’ll notice:

  • lines that feel newly weighted

  • humor that’s gentler

  • sadness that’s clearer

  • irony that’s softened into wisdom

It’s closer to poetry reading than album critique.

4. React personally, not evaluatively

Traditional “reviews” (ratings, standout tracks, production notes) miss the point here.

Better reactions sound like:

  • “This song hit me differently at this stage of my life.”

  • “I didn’t notice how tender this lyric was before.”

  • “This feels like Stace making peace with an earlier self.”

Your reaction is part of the work.

5. Notice the theology of time

A quiet theme running through the series is how time changes meaning without erasing it.

Pay attention to:

  • songs about ambition that now sound reflective

  • love songs that feel less declarative, more grateful

  • irony that’s become compassion

This is a songwriter re-inhabiting his own past without trying to correct it.

6. Share responses sparingly, thoughtfully

If you talk about the series with others:

  • quote a line that struck you

  • describe a feeling rather than an opinion

  • resist “ranking” volumes

The project rewards contemplation more than commentary.

In short:

The best approach is slow, attentive, non-competitive listening, with room for memory, aging, and tenderness. The Secret Series isn’t asking, “What do you think?”
It’s asking, “What do you hear now?”

If you’d like, I can help you:

  • write a short reflection on a specific volume

  • frame a listening group discussion

  • or compare one Secret Series volume to its original album in a way that honors both

Explore devotional listening experience.

A devotional listening experience treats music not as entertainment or critique, but as a practice of attention—something closer to prayer, lectio divina, or contemplative reading. Wes Stace’s Secret Series is unusually well-suited to this because it is quiet, retrospective, and unguarded.

Here’s a way to enter devotional listening, step by step, with depth rather than performance.

1. Prepare the space (the threshold matters)

Devotion begins before the first note.

  • Choose a time with low demand (evening or early morning works well)

  • Dim lights or light a candle

  • Sit rather than recline if possible (alert, not passive)

  • Put the lyric book nearby, closed at first

You’re signaling to yourself: this deserves presence.

2. Begin with silence

Before pressing play:

  • Sit in silence for 30–60 seconds

  • Notice what you’re carrying—fatigue, grief, gratitude, distraction

  • Don’t try to fix it; simply acknowledge it

This mirrors ancient practices: you don’t come empty—you come as you are.

3. First listening: receive, don’t interpret

Play the CD straight through if possible.

During this first pass:

  • Do not read lyrics

  • Do not analyze

  • Let your mind wander through the music rather than away from it

If a line catches you, don’t chase it. Let it pass. Devotional listening trusts that what needs to return will return.

4. Second listening: attend to what repeats

Now open the lyric book or replay selected songs.

Notice:

  • phrases that echo in you

  • moments of vulnerability or humor

  • places where the voice seems to hesitate, soften, or breathe

Ask gently:

Why this line? Why now?

Not “What did he mean?” but “What is being given to me?”

5. Listen for the older self speaking to the younger self

One of the quiet miracles of the Secret Series is that it feels like:

  • a man singing to his former selves

  • without correction, without apology

In devotional listening, you can mirror that:

  • Which song feels like it’s speaking to an earlier version of you?

  • Which lyric sounds like forgiveness rather than explanation?

This is where devotion becomes healing.

6. Let emotion surface without narrative

If you feel:

  • sadness

  • relief

  • tenderness

  • nostalgia

  • unresolved ache

Resist the urge to explain it. Devotional listening honors emotion without turning it into story or solution.

Tears, stillness, or quiet joy are not interruptions—they are responses.

7. Close with gratitude, not judgment

When the music ends:

  • Sit in silence again for a minute

  • Name one thing you’re grateful for (a lyric, a breath, a memory)

  • Avoid asking “Was this good?”

Devotion doesn’t conclude with verdicts—it concludes with thanks.

8. Carry one line into the day

Choose:

  • one lyric

  • one melodic moment

  • one feeling

Let it accompany you, like a psalm refrain. You don’t need to share it or explain it.

Why this works especially for the Secret Series

  • The recordings are unadorned and human

  • The songs already contain reflection, doubt, humor, and grace

  • The project is about returning, not proving

Devotional listening meets the music on its own terms.

A final image

If a normal album is a conversation, and a review is a debate, then devotional listening is sitting beside someone who is remembering aloud—and realizing their remembering has something to do with your own.

If you’d like, I can:

  • adapt this into a group listening liturgy

  • shape it for Lent or retreat use

  • or write a short spoken invocation to begin a listening session

 

Comments

Post a Comment