Shamir - Ratchet

Fittingly for a personality so erratic, Shamir Bailey’s first solo album is best described as patchwork. Stitching together the furthest threads of dance and pop music’s numerous incarnations, ‘Ratchet”s greatest achievement is maintaining its identity amongst all the madness - but in doing so, Shamir and his production cohort Nick Sylvester have created one of the year’s most accomplished, left-field pop albums.

It’s considered but charming, the intricacies of Nick Sylvester’s production adding to the fun-factor, rather than drowning it in technologically minded bore. It’s not hard to imagine the studio awash with balloons and party poppers, bunting and discarded Haribo packets as the pair gleefully skip across the record with their box of bells and whistles. Tambourines, horns and that ‘On The Regular’-defining duo of cowbells all make frequent appearances amid the neon electronics, lifting things off the studio screen and onto the makeshift dance floor, and perfectly accessorising that characteristically high-pitched countertenor voice.