Andy Shauf - Wilds - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Andy Shauf - He's a sad-sack Saskatchewanian songwriter who grew up in a tiny town (pop. 919) off the Trans-Canada Highway somewhere between Swift Current and Moose Jaw. His breakthrough album was called Bearer of Bad News. But don't feel bad for Andy Shauf. Social invitations have been pouring in from Jeff Tweedy, Nick Hornby and Low (for whom he opened two U.S. tours in 2015). The Party is a series of character sketches, ostensibly set at a specific gathering. It's not exactly a concept record or a John Hughes script for a Robert Altman film, but writing it was definitely a way for Shauf to get out of his own head. The Party will spawn no hangover regrets for it's creator, even if it's characters have more than a few. On it, awkward characters show up InchEarly to the Party,Inch dance in the living room (InchMartha SwaysInch), and either reveal life-changing secrets (InchTo YouInch) or try their hardest to reveal nothing at all (InchThe MagicianInch). Fuzzed-out guitars collide with string sections and dreamy synths, all draped over delicate piano, acoustic guitars and rainy-day drums. Oh, and clarinet. On Bearer of Bad News, Shauf started out with 100 songs and whittled it down to 11. This time, with a clearer vision and narrative construct in mind, he focused on 15 and cut it to 10. Brevity is key these vignettes are rooted in classic pop songwriting, with shades of the Shins, Belle and Sebastian and Grandaddy seeping into Shauf's modern arrangements.

2020 . Andy Shauf is becoming one of the most important songwriters of his generation. His songs are tuneful vignettes of small moments and big hearts. On The Neon Skyline, Shauf intertwines stories of a group of friends who frequent a local dive bar, and through them, makes poignant observations about human nature with a novelist's detail and melancholic humor. The songwriting is down to earth, yet sophisticated and inventively melodic. The Neon Skyline is a creative leap for this already acclaimed artist.

2023 . Hailed as Incha gifted storytellerInch (NPR Music) for 2016's The Party and 2020's The Neon Skyline, Andy Shauf writes albums that unfold like short fiction, full of colorful characters, fine details and a rich emotional depth. With Norm, however, Shauf has slyly deconstructed and reshaped the style for which he's been celebrated, elevating his songwriting with intricate layers and perspectives, challenging himself to find a new direction. Under the guise of an intoxicating collection of jazz-inflected romantic ballads, his storytelling has become decidedly more oblique, hinting at ominous situations and dark motivations.