A World Called Desire: The Townshend Tapes Redux, a long-lost 1993 solo album from veteran rock songwriter, guitarist and cultural historian Jeff Slate, produced by Simon Townshend and Slate himself, will be released on Record Store Day Black Friday, November 27, on Shamus Records, part of a new label deal and publishing agreement with TRO Essex Publishing, the premiere independent music publisher, which now oversees Slate’s entire music catalog. The album’s first single "Babylon" is available out now.

The recordings capture a pivotal moment in Slate's creative life: Pete Townshend, riding high from the Tony-winning Broadway production of The Who’s Tommy, invited Slate out on his Psychoderelict tour to discuss a production partnership. What followed was a legendary week at Avalon Studios outside New York, where Slate, alongside Simon Townshend, drummer Mark Brzezicki, keyboardist Josh Phillips, and multi-instrumentalist Bob Stander, recorded what would become this album.

"I was always incredibly proud of this material," says Slate. "It just wasn't meant to be at the time. But hearing the tracks now, more than thirty years later, what felt dated in 1993 feels timeless now."

The project lay dormant for decades, shelved as the grunge era shifted musical tastes and other projects took precedence. When Avalon Studios eventually closed, Stander reached out, having discovered additional multitrack reels that Slate believed were lost. The rediscovery sparked a years-long finishing process, with Slate, Stander and company completing arrangements and overdubs to realize the album Slate always envisioned.

The supporting ensemble reads like a career retrospective: Simon Townshend provides backing vocals and guitar alongside his production work; Brzezicki (drums, percussion) was a Psychoderelict project veteran, as was Phillips, who plays piano, Hammond and keyboards, and Stander, who helped Slate realize a project originally begun more than 30 years ago.

The album was mixed by Duane Lundy and mastered by Alex Wharton at Abbey Road Studios.