A decade after the release of The Party, Andy Shauf is returning to the album with an expanded anniversary edition arriving October 16.
The Party (10th Anniversary Edition) will be released as a double-vinyl set featuring the original album alongside nine bonus tracks. The additional material, including alternate versions and demos, will also be released digitally as the afterparty.
Among the previously unreleased recordings is “losing,” a subdued song about a relationship strained by repeated nights of drinking. The narrator arrives at their partner’s home after another drunken night, gradually confronting the consequences of a pattern they seem unable to break.
The release also finds Shauf reflecting on the period when The Party was written and recorded. In a new essay, the Saskatoon-born songwriter describes his mid-to-late twenties as a period he now sees with considerably more clarity. He recalls spending much of that time touring through North America and Europe, drinking heavily and allowing those experiences to influence his writing.
Looking back, Shauf says he failed to recognize how much he was contributing to the chaos around him. He compares that period with the creative process behind The Party, where musical mistakes and experimentation eventually became part of a cohesive whole.
Released in May 2016, The Party introduced listeners to Shauf's finely detailed world of parties, awkward encounters and complicated relationships. Across songs including “Early to the Party” and “The Magician,” he built a cast of interconnected characters whose stories unfold against lush arrangement, which helped nominate the album to the Polaris Prize shortlsit.
