Shamir – Northtown EP
Shamir Bailey, better known simply as Shamir, has a knack for making music. The Las Vegas-based singer made a surprising impact with his Northtown EP last year. With a new album, Ratchet set for release this May under famed British label XL Recordings, Shamir seems set to make a big breakthrough in terms of pop stardom. The young singer has been making some big waves lately, due to his impressive countertenor voice and the club smash “On The Regular” gaining significant traction on the club charts. Shamir’s debut from 2014, Northtown sheds a little context and gives an insight into the young singer. With a sound informed as much by R&B and hip-hop as it is disco and Prince, Shamir has his sights set on blazing his trail in the musical landscape.
“If It Wasn’t True” sets off quite nicely. A funky house number that slinks its way off of the dancefloor into your head with ease. Subtle bass notes mix in with oldschool drum machines to craft a woozy, yet alluring number that see’s Shamir showcasing his signature vocals. Shamir sounds wise beyond his years, as he sings ” Northtown has a great retro vibe about it, not retro in the revivalism sense, but more that it sounds like it crawled out of the ground from another time. The disco vibes that ring out via “If It Wasn’t True”, the acid house-channeling of “Sometimes A Man” and the R&B slow-jam that is “I’ll Never Be Able To Love” don’t necessarily sound en vogue, in terms of the current musical climate. But Shamir hasn’t got time for that, he seems content to do his own thing on Northtown, rather than blindly follow trends like some fame-obsessed madman.
“Sometimes A Man” mixes a low budget disco beat with the buzzing pulse of a 303 bass synthesizer, to create an electrifyingly potent dancefloor smash. Shamir’s distinctive countertenor voice is the standout element with his music and sounds highly reminiscent of disco divas from years past such as the late Sylvester, or even a less-annoying Sam Smith. His voice is arguably the one factor that strings Northtown together, since the rest of the tracks here have little to nothing in common aside from Shamir’s sensual vocals working their magic over them. “I’ll Never Be Able To Love” sounds like The Weeknd doing “Purple Rain”, with Shamir’s high-pitched vocals mixing in well with the songs woozy and tripped out beat.
The one major downside to the EP would be the lackluster balladry of “Lived And Died Alone”, which closes out the EP. As a lo-fi acoustic song placed smack bang at the end, It sounds like an unfinished bedroom demo. The song’s country twang and acoustic strumming isn’t a good mix, and doesn’t suit Shamir’s voice at all. It just sounds Shamir got drunk and listened to way too much Daniel Johnston and Hank Williams records, then thought it’d be a good idea to record the aftermath of the night. It’s not a bad song by any means necessary, but when you stack it up against the first four tracks, the dissonance is staggering.
For all the comparisons to fellow R&B singers and disco divas, Shamir really has crafted a sound of his own on Northtown. His distinctive voice is unmatched, and blows most cut-and-paste ‘Alternative R&B’ singers out of the water. Plus Shamir’s ability work the dancefloor as well as the bedroom should be enough to place him up in the big leagues once the Top 40 comes knocking at his door. The twenty year old singer pretty much knows just how to mix introspection, danceable grooves and beautiful singing into pop music with ease, as well as making it sound just so god damn appealing in his execution. Ratchet quite simply cannot come fast enough.
7/10
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