Andy Shauf Announces New Album, Norm

Andy Shauf announces his new album, ‘Norm’, out February 10th on ANTI-, and presents its lead single/video, ‘Wasted On You’. In conjunction, Shauf announces a 2023 Norm Tour including some of his biggest shows to-date.

Hailed as “a gifted storyteller” (NPR Music) for 2016’s ‘The Party’ and 2020’s ‘The Neon Skyline’, Shauf writes albums that unfold like short fiction, full of colorful characters, fine details and a rich emotional depth. With ‘Norm’, however, Shauf has slyly deconstructed and reshaped the style for which he’s been celebrated, elevating his songwriting with intricate layers and perspectives, challenging himself to find a new direction. Under the guise of an intoxicating collection of jazz-inflected romantic ballads, his storytelling has become decidedly more oblique, hinting at ominous situations and dark motivations.

Shauf had planned to be touring around ‘The Neon Skyline’ but, like many of us in the early days of the pandemic, he spent a lot of time alone instead. He sequestered himself in his garage studio, self-producing and playing every instrument on ‘Norm’, a collection of more conventional songs written predominantly on guitar, piano and synths. The latter was essential to creating the more spacious and tactile sounds he sought. Shauf’s goals were uncomplicated: create something melody-driven rather than chord-driven, and make it modern. Shauf recruited Neal Pogue (Tyler, the Creator, Janelle Monae, Outkast), a prodigious shaper of genre-and-time-defying tracks, to mix the album, further building on the gently levitating, synth-laden atmospherics.

During this period, he was captivated by David Lynch’s ‘Mulholland Drive’, which seemed to validate Shauf’s instinct to mix perspectives and tinker with shadowy narratives. He even rewrote all of the album’s original lyrics, recreating the story, and enlisting Nicholas Olson as a story editor – it was only after writing the title track that Shauf decided to build a narrative around the character Norm. “The character of Norm is introduced in a really nice way”, Shauf says of the pleasant songs that precede the album’s centerpiece. “But the closer you pay attention to the record, the more you’re going to realize that it’s sinister”.

‘Wasted On You’ doubles as Norm’s lead single and opening track, a lilting pop introduction with R&B cadences and dreamy textures. While at first listen, a love song, Shauf grapples with death and the legacies left behind in its wake. “What happens when they die?” Shauf begins the record by asking. The questions continue, and his final query — “Was all my love wasted on you?” — hangs in the air, with subtle percussion, tender guitar, and synths escorting the song out. The accompanying video, directed by V Haddad and written by Shauf, is a playful depiction of God (played by Lauren Servideo) and Jesus, once again presenting the duality in Shauf’s music.

Andy shauf’s ‘wasted on you’ music video

Andy Shauf’s ‘Norm’ Tracklist

1. Wasted On You
2. Catch Your Eye
3. Telephone
4. You Didn’t See
5. Paradise Cinema
6. Norm
7. Halloween Store
8. Sunset
9. Daylight Dreaming
10. Long Throw
11. Don’t Let It Get To You
12. All Of My Love

Pre-order or pre-save ‘Norm’ here.

Andy Shauf presents ‘Norm’

Tue. Feb. 21 – Columbus, OH @ Skully’s
Wed. Feb. 22 – Nashville, TN @ The Basement East
Fri. Feb. 24 – Ft. Worth, TX @ Tulips
Sat. Feb. 25 – Austin, TX @ Scoot Inn
Sun. Feb. 26 – Oklahoma City, OK @ Beer City Music Hall
Tue. Feb. 28 – Phoenix, AZ – Crescent Ballroom
Wed. Mar. 1 – Santa Ana, CA @ Observatory OC
Thu. Mar. 2 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Belasco
Fri. Mar. 3 – San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall
Tue. Mar. 7 – Portland, OR @ Revolution Hall
Wed. Mar. 8 – Seattle, WA @ Crocodile
Fri. Mar. 10 – Victoria, BC @ Royal Theatre
Sat. Mar. 11 – Vancouver, BC @ The Orpheum
Sun. Mar. 12 – Kelowna, BC @ Kelowna Community Theatre
Tue. Mar. 14 – Edmonton, AB @ Winspear Centre
Wed. Mar. 15 – Calgary, AB @ Jack Singer Concert Hall
Thu. Mar. 16 – Saskatoon, SK @ TCU Place
Fri. Mar. 17 – Winnipeg, MB @ Burton Cummings Theatre
Sat. Mar. 18 – Minneapolis, MN @ Cedar Cultural Center
Wed. Mar. 22 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
Thu. Apr. 20 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel
Fri. Apr. 21 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
Sat. Apr. 22 – Saxapahaw, NC @ Haw River Ballroom
Mon. Apr. 24 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
Wed. Apr. 26 – Boston, MA @ Royale
Thu. Apr. 27 – Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground
Fri. Apr. 28 – Ottawa, ON @ The Bronson Centre

Links to the tickets are available here.