N D E R
Throughout the long and varied history of revelry, there have been a handful of celebratory gatherings so raucous and rambunctious, elaborate and elegant, or just plain weird enough to warrant their retelling in the form of epic verse, film, or song. From Steinbeck’ s Doc and his throng of Cannery Row admirers setting the lab ablaze or a flat-topped Kid’ N Play throwing the mutha’ of all house parties to a casual Friday at Marie Antoinette’ s place or just two guys having a good time in a Lonely Island triplex, most gala affairs preserved for eternity tend to focus on the fun parts of a fiesta. Not so for Saskatchewan-based musician Andy Shauf, whose accomplished ANTI- Records debut, The Party, dwells more on the comedown than the commotion of its titular to-do.
HE
Shauf’ s 2015 LP, The Bearer of Bad News, announced the arrival of a new talent possessing more than a passing fancy for the darkened pop chime of Elliott Smith and Paul Simon. Now, his subtle and gorgeous tunes capture the characters, ebbs, and ending of a run-of-the-mill suburban fete with all the mature songwriting sensibility of Harry Nilsson or Randy Newman and the sharp eye of a wizened wallflower enjoying a cigarette break. Listen as clarinet, piano, and strings rise and fall through the steady, slow clip of Shauf’ s confident tempos and charmingly unique and at times mush-mouthed delivery. There are sure-footed spaces of uncertainty in the album-launching“ The Magician,” sunny
IN
and upbeat AM radio pop rays in“ Begin Again,” moments of heart-worn mortification in“ To You,”
LUENCE
and sparse lulls of sweeping majesty in“ Martha Sways.” While Shauf’ s party is not necessarily one for the annals of Instagram’ s Explore tab, it is no doubt an affair to recognize and to remember. When he asks in the jangly cynical“ The Worst in You,”“ Are you running around or just running away?” it’ s a cry that each of us have no doubt bellowed from some half-dark hallway of our youth.
Here, Shauf speaks about the various favors, themes, and machines that make up his Party.
26 FLOOD