album: The Neon Skyline - Andy Shauf
words: Phillip Russell
On The Neon Skyline, the latest album from Andy Shauf, the artist takes listeners along during a night of drinking. The songwriter, known for lyrics that often resist rhyme in favor of intricate, character-driven songs, creates that same magic on this release, welcoming one to an evening at the Skyline bar. Everything about Shauf’s tale seems ordinary, but then the unexpected arrival of an ex named Judy leads to trouble, derailing a once casual evening into an alcohol-fueled bar crawl.
The album doesn’t progress towards an earth-shattering realization about what went wrong in the narrator’s relationship. However, Shauf does present, in precise details, the successes and failures in communication that can become a hallmark of any romantic relationship. On “Things I Do,” Shauf mixes tight drum work with an omnipresent clarinet, bringing us back to a time to when Judy had asked for some space from the narrator. Shauf depicts an act of desperation on the narrator’s part to salvage the relationship when he shows up unannounced at Judy’s place. “Thought you'd be happy to see me / But you said, What the hell are you doing here? / Why do I do the things I do / When I know I am losing you?”
On the poppy track, “Try Again,” Shauf’s lightness and humor are showcased with the narrator detailing a moment during the night when he manages to hit it off with Judy. At one point in the song, Judy touches the narrator’s coat. “I've missed this,” she says. “I know, I've missed you, too,” the narrator replies. “I was actually talking about your coat.” These unexpected moments are why The Neon Skyline’s characters feel so alive.
In the penultimate track, “Fire Truck,” Shauf begins the scene with a fire truck barreling past the bar reminding the narrator of a night he stayed up waiting for Judy to come home. When he tells Judy this, she gets upset: “She says, I remember, and why the fuck / Would this be a good time to bring that up? / And I am silent because I’m not sure / Sometimes I feel like I should never speak again.” As the track continues towards the chorus, a song comes on at the bar that saves the pair from an incoming argument: “She takes my hand and says, Come on / You know, this is one's my favorite song.”
Clocking in at just under thirty-five minutes, The Neon Skyline moves with a brisk pace that doesn’t overstay its welcome. Arriving at the closer, “Changer,” listeners are left to drift along in a dreamy melody, as if we’ve arrived back at home with the narrator, drifting off and coming down after a night on the town. It’s a moment where the narrator seems to be on the precipice of a big realization, but Shauf stops short of telling the listener how to feel. It’s a daring move that pays off. Shauf’s careful touch allows us to experience a relationship coming to a close, while still reminding us, that just because something has ended doesn’t mean that our compassion toward one another should end as well.