A lot has changed in our world since Shamir Bailey’s debut full-length, Ratchet, landed via XL Recordings in 2015. In a social climate heated by derision on high, a pervasive distrust in information, and an undesiring malaise out-sourced upon youth culture, the messaging voiced on Shamir’s latest release, Revelations, rings all the more pertinent to our present moment. The new LP (which is currently streaming over at NPR and officially drops on November 3 via Father/Daughter Records) is the product of soul-searching; the result is a collection of burgeoning, guitar-laden, lo-fi pop that sets the stage for Shamir to speak candidly of his experiences, while also conveying the desire to do so through a musical vocabulary that marks a departure from what the industry came to expect of the young artist. As a moment of reclamation for the Vegas transplant, Revelations is a call to action to empower a generation of disenfranchised kids mangled by financial burdens, grappling with existential anxieties and self-hate. Finding one’s voice is a solitary task, yet the result is often surprisingly resonant within a collective struggle. The result of Shamir’s inward journey is a collection of bedroom pop bliss that sounds stripped down and vulnerable, yet wholly confident in their prevailing over adversity. – Josh Kelly
