Shad’s 5th Full-Length album – His first since 2013’s Flying Colours – “A Short Story About A War” is a concept album that begins by describing a world at war from 5 vantage points. 1) The Sniper – who has risen to the top through a ruthless committment to isolation and a “kill or be killed” ideology. 2) The Revolution – a group so committed to overthrowing the evil powers that be that they are willing to wage endless war to stop the endless wars being waged by those in the chief seats. 3) The Establishment – Bloodless pencil pushers who do all of the work to facilitate a violent world, but who deny their complicity by pointing out that technically it’s their policy not to make war. 4) The Stone Throwers – The have-nots who have to fight with whatever tools they can find. Their position on the ground highlights the brutality they participate in to survive. 5) The Fool – A mysterious character that subscribes to the foolis belief that bullets can’t kill and thus lives at peace (internally and externally) in the midst of a world at war. This short album trailer sketches out the basic characters. Later songs explore the origins of the war (Magic), The secrets ignored by the warriors (The fool part 2 [water]), the hidden dreams of the sniper (Sniper Interlude), The fool’s development of a like-minded community committed to peace and the pushback they recieve (Peace/War), The Internality of war and peace (The Fool part 3 [frame of mind]). The Final 2 songs root the album in Shad’s life with “Another Year” exploring exterior and interior conflicts in the artist’s hometown of Toronto and “All I Need” exploring the artist’s inner struggles as he seeks to live at peace in a world at war. This interview is a good watch for someone who is looking to take a deeper dive into the themes of the album.