He’s less concerned about the root of such melancholy and more interested in its effect in the real world. “Jaywalker with your head hung down, never saw it coming,” he sings over a marching beat, “it” being the car that slams into the protagonist who is so lost in his worries that he’s oblivious to oncoming traffic. “Jaywalker” is like one of those gruesome old highway safety films, except the danger here is reckless moping rather than reckless driving.
There’s always some dark fear or gnawing anxiety just under the surface of his songs. Shauf can be clever, but like John Darnielle-another writer given to self-imposed songwriting conceits-he’s never merely clever. It’s a fine setting for his distinctive voice, which chews on his consonants and wrings his syllables into unusual shapes. And the rhythm section seems to be mocking him on “Jeremy’s Wedding (Wilds),” especially that “Walk On the Wild Side” bassline. An electric guitar punctuates his worries on “Call” with a single funereal strum, then disrupts “Green Glass” with a riff as unruly as a cowlick. Forgoing the lush sound of previous albums, Wilds is lovingly, wryly minimalist, and he arranges these instruments-most of which he played himself-as though blocking a short play with a small cast. Shauf has described it as a collection of demos, but that might actually be underselling it, because there’s as much wit in his playing as in his songwriting. By ceding control, Shauf allows the songs to wander wherever they want, paying their tab at the Skyline and heading out into the world.Įven as he extends his universe, he pares his songs down to their barest bones. Because it’s beholden to no overarching conceit, the music sounds looser, a bit wilder, more lackadaisical in a sadsack sort of way, its arc less predetermined and its themes emerging more organically.
Despite such tortured origins, the album works surprisingly well. It’s all part of the Andy Shauf Extended Universe. It’s not strictly a sequel, but it’s not completely unrelated either. Wilds combines those two ideas into something that’s neither/nor.
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