Singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright [ tickets ] sandwiches a late-2003 North American tour between the release dates of his two latest albums.

Wainwright's outing kicks off in mid-November and hits theaters in the U.S. and Canada through mid-December.

The run supports "Want One," which landed in stores late last month. The set, which is Wainwright's third, was originally planned as a double album, but was split into two parts; "Want Two" is due next spring.

"'Want One' is a presentable, accessible entity," Wainwright said in a statement. "'Want Two' will have some of the more daunting tracks, the operatic, weird stuff, some heavy numbers that relate to my classical sensibilities.

Marius deVries--who has worked with Bjork, Massive Attack, Madonna and David Bowie--produced the two "Want" volumes, and co-arranged the orchestral arrangements with Chris Elliott, Maxim Moston and Wainwright.

Other artists who appear on the set include: guitarists Charlie Sexton and Gerry Leonard; guitarist/pianist Jimmy Zhivago; drummers Levon Helm, Matt Johnson and Sterling Campbell; bassists Jeff Hill and Bernard O'Neill; and backing vocalists Martha Wainwright (Rufus' sister), Jenny Muldaur, Linda Thompson and Teddy Thompson. Kate McGarrigle, Wainwright's mother, played the banjo and accordion.

The "Want" albums follow 2001's "Poses."

"When I made 'Poses,' I was thinking about it all the time and agonizing over it," Wainwright said. "With the new record, I tried to make a point to not think about it and not agonize over it and just let it flow. But that is easier said than done. It seems you have to go through the beating-a-dead-horse thing before you can just let go, let it come out. A lot of that is faith, and I think you can't really have faith until your beliefs have been completely destroyed and you are just feeling your way."

Two tracks from "Want One"--"Oh, What a World" and "I Don't Know What It Is"--are streaming at Wainwright's website.