Norm (LP)

Norm, the eighth album from singer-songwriter Andy Shauf, is a shimmering arc with unsettling silences that complete its story, the pop and hiss of a needle on a turntable after the song ends, emptiness like a trap door into something tender and terrifying. The Saskatchewan-born performer has already made a name for himself with television appearances and enviable reviews for his prior work, including his 2016 outing The Party, which The Sunday Times praised for "killer lyrics in music of extraordinary beauty," and the night-at-a-bar drama of 2020's The Neon Skyline, which Pitchfork called "a wistful, funny, and heartbreaking world."

With Norm, he's upended his songwriting methods, creating a deeply haunting and unpredictable universe. It's a classic Shauf premise to wonder whether we're destined for disappointment and pain when people don't love us the way we want them to. But he's taking the question further this time. Many tracks on Norm start out delicate and forlorn, with the feel of classic torch songs. In the middle of a line, Shauf's vocals shift unexpectedly to a higher, plaintive register. He sounds as if he's sitting next to you, singing quietly in your ear, with the persuasive pining of Chet Baker, if Chet Baker sang in round Canadian vowels.

But listen closely, and deep in the music, a shift happens as the world goes sideways. The tempo slows, vertigo slips in, or a discordant note appears. An uneasy clarinet phrase devolves into a busy signal. A lyric veers from a bird's-eye-view to intimate thoughts. The result is a recognizable Shauf production, but with a flowing landscape of suppressed grooves propelling the songs toward uncertain destinations. He's driving us out to a wild and dangerous place. The story takes shape through little epiphanies, accumulating like debris from a series of implosions.