A breakout album upon its debut in 2016, Andy Shauf has released The Party (10th Anniversary Edition) , a special double vinyl piece with nine additional tracks accompanying the original studio version, including three never-before-released songs plus alternate cuts and demo recordings. This bonus material is also out now digitally as a collection of songs called ‘the afterparty’. Listen to it HERE.
Praise for The Party
“ ‘The Party’ is definitely worth celebrating.” – Uncut
“A folk record so lush it feels as though Shauf made a feature film, providing settings, characters and colour to fill out a full motion picture with just 10 songs. Dipping into ’60s pop melodies, it’s easy to see yourself slow dancing to ‘The Party’ while closing out your own messy gathering.” – CBC Music
“The result recalls classic pop songwriters in the vein of Harry Nilsson or Randy Newman, coupled with the plainspoken timbre of a Paul Simon, albeit with a laconic Canadian drawl. Shauf also possesses a keen, emotive ear for complex arrangements and lavish orchestrations.” – NPR Music
With The Party Shauf masterfully creates a cast of memorable and unique characters. They show up ‘Early to the Party,’ reveal secrets (‘To You’) or try to reveal nothing (‘The Magician’). In “a city the size of a dinner plate,” everyone knew the guy who keeled over after smoking what he promised would be his last pack of cigarettes (‘Alexander All Alone’). There’s the girl dancing by herself in the middle of the room, with the ‘Eyes of Them All’ upon her. One moment you’re dancing with someone who bears an uncanny resemblance to your ex (‘Martha Sways’) and later slagging your best friend as way of endearing yourself to his recently dumped ex (‘Quite Like You’). All of this is set to ornate arrangements of fuzzed-out guitars, string sections, clarinets and dreamy synths; all draped over delicate piano, acoustic guitars and rainy-day drums.
“ ‘The Party’ didn’t happen because I knew what I was doing, it happened because I kept making mistakes,” Shauf explained when asked to reflect on the making of this seminal album. “[It was] four years of trying and trying again until eventually the happy accidents added up to something cohesive. It was a process of learning, like anything is. If I’d taken the same revisionist approach to my real life, maybe the lost period wouldn’t have stretched out for so long. Mistakes made in songs led to new arrangements and new approaches, mistakes in life led to more and more confusion and hurt. Thankfully life has allowed me the time to learn that I was simply lucky to have been given the chance to explore at all.”
Read his essay in full at andyshauf.com.
Andy Shauf
The Party (10th Anniversary Edition) feat. the afterparty
1. The Magician
2. Early to the Party
3. Twist Your Ankle
4. Quite Like You
5. Begin Again
6. The Worst in You
7. To You
8. Eyes of Them All
9. Alexander All Alone
10. Martha Sways
1. the magician (demo)
2. angela the traveller
3. begin again (v2)
4. eyes of them all (demo)
5. the interrupter
6. losing
7. twist your ankle (demo)
8. my brother jeremy (demo)
9. martha sways (v2)
Andy Shauf Online
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