February 10, 2023
Arts & Crafts
1xLP (Black and Indie Exclusive Eco Vinyl)
Since Regina’s own Andy Shauf released his major label debut The Party in 2016, he has steadily been building an eager audience thanks to an impressive string of albums. With a signature style that resembles a blend of chamber pop and folk rock, The Neon Skyline and Wilds generated acclaim that reached as high as the Oval Office; Obama was an admitted admirer. His new album Norm, while not treading significantly new ground, is a more luscious and evocative project, with cascading synths and melting guitar flourishes, possessed by a tranquilizing beauty. Shauf’s songwriting is as usual spiritual, romantic and humorous. God’s judgment, unrequited love, alienation, locking your keys in your car, oblique references to Spirit Halloween, it’s all there. Collected, the songs make up a kind of suburban religious parable, and here I will avoid all impulse to make a bad Green Day reference. This is one for those mornings when the sun is shining just right, and you can’t help but think about what has and hasn’t been.