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Live Review: Shamir 'Darker' (Official Video)

14 May 2015 | 12:30 pm | Katie Rowley

Shamir’s latest single, ‘Darker’, is unlike anything we’ve heard from the Vegas youngster thus far; it’s a total U-turn towards a more reflective and vulnerable place.

Shamir Darker Purple Sneakers

SHAMIR’s latest single, ‘Darker’, is unlike anything we’ve heard from the Vegas youngster thus far; it’s a total U-turn towards a more reflective and vulnerable place.

Taken from his upcoming debut album, Ratchet, Shamir taps into a far more spiritual side compared to what we saw on sassy disco numbers like ‘Call It Off’. The song opens with cinematic strings and drum rolls, creaking doors and helicopter rumbles – when Shamir’s voice cuts in, all instrumentation fades off and only a simple set of key chords remains.

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The video is worth a watch too. Directed by Anthony Sylvester, it’s tonally filtered through eerie blue and indigo shades as Shamir stands silhouetted against the Joshua Tree desert. When he erupts into the track’s title, wailing to the skies "daaaarker", the desert landscape is thrown into sunlight. The video channels classic rock ballads or love songs in its direction – the artist sings soulfully on the side of a barren hilltop – but it retains a currency in the interesting light play and the manner in which Shamir’s world continues to spin thanks to the circling drone style camera shots.

Unlike previous tracks, this single seems to have a bit more emotional substance – he says that "it doesn’t get darker unless you expect it to" – and the uplifting message plays against the melancholy simple keys and the haunting night time shades of the video. It’s an attempt to recognise the day-to-day malaise that can grip us, and the methods we can use to deal with shifting boundaries and uncertainties.

Indeed, Shamir himself is a young artist that is emerging as one who plays in uncertainties and revels in shifting boundaries; he’s shown a range and depth with his latest track, so be sure to check out his album for the full picture when it drops via XL Recordings on May 19. If you can’t wait till then, the album has been made available to stream ahead of its release, via iTunes Radio (North Americans only).

Words by Katie Rowley

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