Photo by Colin Medley
Andy Shauf has a “musicians’ musician” quality to him. I first learned about the Canadian singer last spring via Dana Falconberry, and over the next few months, I saw his name repeatedly get shout-outs from fellow artists. It makes sense: Shauf’s music is full of intricate and playful details that can perk the ears of even the most seasoned pros.
Shauf’s 2016 album, The Party, is a true statement of artistic intent. Shauf examines, yes, a party from every angle, hovering between the characters with a Richard Linklater-level of ease and poetry. “The Magician” opens the record like the raising of a curtain, and Shauf decorates the scene with bold, orchestral flourishes. The small, painstaking elements add up to much bigger, abstract truths, like a party that’s crept into the dawn hours: “Just a shaking hand without a concrete plan.”
“The Magician” appears on The Party, out now via Anti-. Andy Shauf plays Stubb’s indoors on Monday, May 8.
–Art Levy // host, Sunday 10 a.m. – 2 p.m., producer, My KUTX
