| The Party | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | May 20, 2016 (2016-05-20) | |||
| Length | 37:25 | |||
| Label | Anti- | |||
| Producer | Andy Shauf | |||
| Andy Shauf chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 83/100[1] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [2] |
| The Guardian | [3] |
The Party is the fifthstudio album by Canadian musicianAndy Shauf. It was released on May 20, 2016 underAnti-.[4]
As its title suggests,The Party is aconcept album set at ahouse 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 toAnti-, 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 aTiny Desk Concert released the same day as the album.[10]
The Party was met with positive reviews, with particular praise for Shauf's storytelling and character studies.[4][6][11][12] OnMetacritic, 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 the2016 Polaris Music Prize.[14] In 2017, it was nominated forAdult Alternative Album of the Year at theJuno Awards. Shauf was also nominated forRecording Engineer of the Year for "The Magician" and "To You", and forBreakthrough Artist of the Year.[15] The same year, Shauf and the album were nominated for multipleCanadian Independent Music Awards andWestern Canadian Music Awards.[16][17]
In discussing his more recent albums, some reviewers have notedThe Party as the first album to win Shauf widespread recognition.[18][19]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | |