From his piercing contralto/tenor falsetto to his blend of 90s house, Philly soul and country (all on 2015’s Rachet album), lo-fi punk and fizzy pop (2017’s Hope and its follow-up, Revelations, and now, lush psychedelia on songs such as 2020’s “On My Own” and this week’s release “I Wonder,”) Vegas-to-Philly transplant Shamir has shown over and over and over again – that he is a genre-bending baller.
What is even more interesting is that for an independent artist sans any signature sound – beyond the use of that falsetto – Shamir has made everything he does, in the present and the future, dramatic and hot with excitement and anticipation. The announcement of his new album, October 2’s “Shamir,” is being hailed with the sort of demand reserved for Ariana Grande or Drake.
Along with that command of the spotlight for himself and his own work, Shamir now has his own label, Accidental Popstar Records, with its first release being a track from another Philly force -singer-songwriter Grant Pavol who, also this week, dropped a gorgeous twangy airy song, “Bones,” about the passing of his grandfather, legendary screenwriter William Goldman (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, All the President’s Men, The Princess Bride, Marathon Man). Coming up as I did in film school, Mr. Goldman’s work was a must study. His books about the film game too, are hilarious and biting.
You can see “Bones” here.
Pavol has announced that his debut full-length album on Shamir’s label (Shamir’s debut as a label magnate) “About A Year,” will be released on September 4, and I get the feeling we’ll soon be looking to Grant with the same sort of hot anticipation as we do Shamir sooner than later.
Images: Courtesy of Shamir, Kate Killet.
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