"The Magician" is the elegant opening track of Saskatchewan singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Andy Shauf's third album The Party (2016), which consist of ten vignettes that sketch out different charracters at a party. With snippets of conversation and excavations of their inner thoughts over a single night, Shauf presents a realistic sonic portrait of various individuals living out presumably cloistered and lonely small-town lives.
Paste's Joshua Miller has observed that "Shauf is like a party host intent on finding the intricate stories behind the characters who stumble into his songs and soundtracking them in grand fashion ... [looking] beyond the fun and games to discover complex characters with three dimensional thoughts and feelings rather than focusing on what’s on the surface". Armed with exactingly precise lyrics and disconnected objectivity, Shauf's role is somewhat akin to a fly on a wall in a recording studio.
The Guardian's Kitty Empire has compared Shauf's voice to 'sodden velvet'; his understated and sombre vocal delivery helps establish a contemplative state - although there are moments where his 'mumblecore-esque' style makes it hard to decipher what he's singing. Backed by piano keys which turn into a symphonic melody of fuzzy guitars, string sections and clarinets, "The Magician" dissects the pysche of seasoned crowd-pleaser whose charming social performances mask a lack of certainty and confidence:
'Do you findit gets a little easier each timeyou make it disappear?
Oh fools,the magician bends the rulesas the crowd watches his every move
Just a shaking hand without a concrete plan'
Lyrics: Musixmatch
