When ‘Ratchet’ introduced us to Shamir Bailey’s neon-flecked electropop a little over two years ago, you’d have got long odds on what happened next. The Las Vegas native swiftly ditched the sound that made him a critical darling, turning instead to rough and ready DIY indie on its self-released follow up, ‘Hope’.
His third record, ‘Revelations’, is another work that’s difficult to pigeonhole. This time around Shamir is a little less forlorn and a tad more optimistic, while also drawing on the strengths of his earlier releases.
Opening with falsetto, off-kilter vocals that could rival Kate Bush, Games makes it clear this is not going to be an easy listen. That’s not to say it’s not a worthwhile endeavour, though.
Shamir’s drunken performance - recorded in one take - frames music industry barbs: “They say you gotta own it, but all the money’s gone.”
Our perseverance is rewarded with the bittersweet electro-indie nugget You Have a Song, on which he dresses down a former friend. “You have a song, which means you’re doing something wrong,” he sings. “Don’t think you’re special ‘cos it’s about you.”
Throughout, Shamir explores wide-ranging topics through a dynamic musical approach. There is an apt nostalgic feel to 90’s kids, on which he sneers at generational gaps, but it remains fresh: “Our parents say we’re dramatic, but they always ask for more than we do. So fuck you, we out here struggling.”
Straight Boy, meanwhile, touches on whitewashing and the exploitation of LGBT aesthetics. Here Shamir is backed only by basic guitars: gone are the programmed disco beats of his debut and the overt use of distortion that stole focus on ‘Hope’.
With the record emerging following a difficult time in his life, it would be understandable if his writing skewed melancholy. But, in true Shamir style, he has chosen a different road. Tracks such as Cloudy offer hope. “Through cloudy eyes it’s hard to see the bright side to everything, we all have pain a time or two, but don’t let it get to you,” he sings. “In time all wounds will heal and old skin will start to peel.”
Those holding out for a pop resurgence and ‘Ratchet’ 2.0 will be left wanting, but ‘Revelations’ is a triumph of perseverance and sincerity. It shows Shamir finding his feet and standing his ground.
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