Shamir – “Breathe”

In 2017, Shamir Bailey followed his hugely promising 2015 debut Ratchet with Hope, a DIY indie pop album that he first posted on SoundCloud. Hope was an abrupt left turn, and it signaled an entirely different artistic direction. Since then, Shamir has come out with six more albums, most of them self-released. Today, Shamir has announced a new deal with venerable Pacific Northwest indie Kill Rock Stars, and he’s planning a fifth-anniversary Hope reissue with a couple of unreleased songs.

“Breathe” and “Camouflage,” the two bonus tracks from the Hope reissue come from that same 2017 era. “Breathe” is a chiming, mournful bedroom-pop track that makes great use of Shamir’s incandescent vocals. In a press release, Shamir says, “I wrote ‘Breathe’ after the 2016 elections, when it seemed like the end of the world. The song is about finding solace in the midst of hardship. Things haven’t really gotten better since then, so this song unfortunately feels as apt as ever. I shot the video at Bartram Garden in Philadelphia.” Check out the video below.

The deluxe Hope reissue is out 1/20/23. Check out our 2017 interview with Shamir about the release of Hope here.