ANDY SHAUF ANNOUNCES THE PARTY (10th ANNIVERSARY EDITION)
+ the afterparty EP
OUT OCTOBER 16, 2026 VIA ARTS & CRAFTS
Photo Credit: Colin Medley // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES
Originally released in the spring of 2016, ten years have passed since the arrival of singer-songwriter Andy Shauf’s seminal album The Party. To commemorate a decade of these classic, lived-in songs, The Party (10th Anniversary Edition) will be released on October 16 on double vinyl with nine additional tracks accompanying the original studio version, including three never-before-released songs plus alternate cuts and demo recordings. The bonus material will be made available as a digital release titled the afterparty, also due October 16.
‘I know it's a fight / and I know that I’m losing’ Shauf sullenly ponders on “losing,” one of the three previously unreleased tracks. Coming home from the party, the song’s narrator has arrived at their partner’s place a little too drunk a few too many times.
In a new essay reflecting on this period of his life, Shauf looks back with a clarity he didn’t have at the time:
“The Party was written when I was in my mid-twenties and was released a few days before I turned twenty-nine. This time feels like a lost period for me. I was on the road in North America and Europe consistently, ‘partying’ a lot, letting alcohol lead me to experiences I thought necessary for having something to write about. My dream of becoming a touring musician and recording artist was starting to play out, but I avoided acknowledging that reality out of fear that it would vanish. It’s clearer now that this avoidance more so gave me an inability to see myself as the destructive force at the center of the chaos beginning to surround me.
“The Party didn’t happen because I knew what I was doing, it happened because I kept making mistakes. 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 the essay in full at andyshauf.com.
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 a 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.
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
“At times the budget grandeur posits Shauf as a sort of indie Burt Bacharach: don’t be fooled by the chintzy synths and general thrift-store appearance. One track, “Martha Sways”, injects notes of dissonance – off-kilter violins, random stabs of piano – that will be familiar to fans of Big Star’s Sister Lovers. Then again, a lot of these songs have the warm, easy-listening appeal of the hippest mainstream 70s songwriters, up to and including Nilsson, while reclaiming aspects of the cheesiest.” - The Guardian
PRE-ORDER THE PARTY (10TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION) HERE
‘the afterparty’ cover image // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES
THE PARTY (10TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION)
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)
