Saskatchewan singer-songwriter Andy Shauf is the kind of guy you'd find laying low at a party, maybe tucked into the corner of a room with a drink in his hand, keeping to himself but taking everything in. He's soft-spoken and reserved, more comfortable delivering the news than being a part of it (though "comfortable" may be too strong a word).
Shauf's latest album is, appropriately enough, called The Party. It's an emotionally remote collection of character studies and bent observations made during a gathering of drunken fools, smooth operators and the painfully self-aware.
Andy Shauf recently brought The Party to the NPR Music offices for this quietly affecting Tiny Desk performance. His set opens with "The Magician," a song about a poser schmoozing his way through a crowd, followed by "To You," a slightly comical but awkward confession of unrequited love. Shauf closes with the relatively propulsive "You're Out Wasting," a meditation on greed, selling out and late-night anxiety; it's from his 2015 album The Bearer Of Bad News.
The Party is available now. (iTunes) (Amazon)
Set List
Credits
Producers: Robin Hilton, Niki Walker; Audio Engineer: Josh Rogosin; Videographers: Niki Walker, Kara Frame; Production Assistant: Jackson Sinnenberg; Photo: Brandon Chew/NPR.
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