In 2017, Shamir made a sharp pivot away from the infectious dance music that earned him his fame to embrace a guitar-heavy, grungier style that allowed him to channel influences like Courtney Love and Velocity Girl. After nearly quitting music, Shamir released Hope and Revelations in 2017, and has now followed them up with Resolution, a surprise release on Bandcamp.
The project is contemplative and reverb-heavy, but also pointedly political and personal. The opener, "I Can't Breathe," paints a chilling picture of police brutality and the lack of consequences perpetrators often face with heavy allusion to Eric Garner and Tamir Rice. "Panic" and "Dead Inside" deals frankly with anxiety and depression, and Shamir made sure mental health has been at the forefront of conversations about his new music.
Since self-releasing Hope on SoundCloud in April 2017, Shamir has improved as a songwriter across each project, tackling heavy topics both personal and social with deftness and grace. The guitar tone and production on Resolution are gritty and textural, a perfect juxtaposition for his feathery falsetto, making it a fascinating record both thematically and sonically. He also put out a two-song EP, Room, that can be streamed on all services.
In a 2015 conversation with Pigeons & Planes, Shamir talked about how writing and playing guitar was really his most comfortable space as a musician. "That’s how I started off. Just me and my guitar, making music and writing. It’s natural," he said.
Stream Shamir's new record below and read our interview with him from 2015.
