The Party
The album cover of The Party, designed by Meghan Fenske.
Studio album by
Andy Shauf
ReleasedMay 20, 2016 (2016-05-20)
Length37:25
LabelAnti-
ProducerAndy Shauf
Andy Shauf chronology
The Bearer of Bad News
(2012)		 The Party
(2016)		 The Neon Skyline
(2020)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic83/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
The Guardian[3]

The Party is the fifth studio album by Canadian musician Andy Shauf. It was released on May 20, 2016 under Anti-.[4]

Background

As its title suggests, The Party is a concept album set at a house party, consisting of a series of vignettes taking place over the course of a single night.[5][6] Shauf has stated that he began the album by working on unrelated songs, but that about halfway through the process, he decided on the theme of a party.[7][5] Although each song presents a different character, many of them have personal or autobiographical elements.[8]

The album was originally recorded and produced independently, with Shauf completing the album before meeting with any record labels. After presenting it to Anti-, however, he re-recorded and edited much of the music before releasing it.[5] Shauf wrote, performed, engineered, and produced the entire album himself, with the exception of the string arrangements, which were written and performed by Colin Nealis.[4][6][9]

Shauf performed two songs from the album in a Tiny Desk Concert released the same day as the album.[10]

Reception

The Party was met with positive reviews, with particular praise for Shauf's storytelling and character studies.[4][6][11][12] On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 83 based on 9 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[13]

The album was shortlisted for the 2016 Polaris Music Prize.[14] In 2017, it was nominated for Adult Alternative Album of the Year at the Juno Awards. Shauf was also nominated for Recording Engineer of the Year for "The Magician" and "To You", and for Breakthrough Artist of the Year.[15] The same year, Shauf and the album were nominated for multiple Canadian Independent Music Awards and Western Canadian Music Awards.[16][17]

In discussing his more recent albums, some reviewers have noted The Party as the first album to win Shauf widespread recognition.[18][19]

Track listing

The Party track listing
No.TitleLength
1."The Magician"3:52
2."Early to the Party"4:05
3."Twist Your Ankle"3:46
4."Quite Like You"3:25
5."Begin Again"3:17
6."The Worst in You"2:55
7."To You"3:54
8."Eyes of Them All"3:54
9."Alexander All Alone"3:58
10."Martha Sways"4:19
Total length:37:25

References

  1. ↑ The Party by Andy Shauf, retrieved March 27, 2022
  2. ↑ The Party - Andy Shauf | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic, retrieved March 27, 2022
  3. ↑ "Andy Shauf: The Party review – an accomplished new voice". the Guardian. May 22, 2016. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
  4. 1 2 3 "The Party - Andy Shauf". AllMusic. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
  5. 1 2 3 Roberts, Randall (October 20, 2016). "Andy Shauf talks about parties, 'The Party' and that dude dancing at his Greek show a few months ago". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
  6. 1 2 3 Katzif, Mike (May 12, 2016). "Review: Andy Shauf, 'The Party'". NPR. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
  7. ↑ "Andy Shauf on the making of The Party - The Skinny". www.theskinny.co.uk. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
  8. ↑ "Show Up Early To The Party With Andy Shauf". NPR.org. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
  9. ↑ "Recent Albums". Colin Sigor. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
  10. ↑ "Andy Shauf: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert". YouTube. May 20, 2016. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
  11. ↑ "Andy Shauf: The Party Review". pastemagazine.com. May 9, 2016. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
  12. ↑ "Andy Shauf's The Party: A Track-by-Track Review". Atwood Magazine. April 5, 2018. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
  13. ↑ "The Party by Andy Shauf". Metacritic. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
  14. ↑ "2016 Polaris Music Short List Is Here". Polaris Music Prize. July 14, 2016. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
  15. ↑ "Andy Shauf up for three Juno Awards". SaskToday.ca. February 10, 2017. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
  16. ↑ "2017 Nominees | INDIES". Retrieved March 27, 2022.
  17. ↑ "BreakOut West Reveals 2017's Western Canadian Music Awards Nominees | Exclaim!". exclaim.ca. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
  18. ↑ "Andy Shauf Gives New Life to a Dying Romance on Wilds". pastemagazine.com. September 27, 2021. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
  19. ↑ "Andy Shauf On Anticlimactic Storytelling & 'The Neon Skyline': "Essentially It's An Album About Nothing"". www.grammy.com. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
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