CANCELLED: Andy Shauf

Few artists are storytellers as deft and disarmingly observational as Andy Shauf. The Toronto-based, Saskatchewan-raised musician’s songs unfold like short fiction: they are densely layered with colourful characters and a rich emotional depth.

On his new album »The Neon Skyline«, Shauf chose to start each composition on guitar instead of his usual piano. The resulting album finds its immediacy in simplicity. While the arrangements on folksy »The Moon« are unfussy and song-centered like the best Gordon Lightfoot offerings, his drive to experiment is still obvious. This is especially so on the unmoored relationship autopsy »Thirteen Hours«, which boasts an arrangement that is both jazzy and adventurous. On top of heartbreak, friendship, and the mundane moments of humanity that define his songwriting, Shauf makes music that explores how easy it is to find yourself in familiar patterns and repeat the same mistakes of your past.