8/10

When the falsetto-voiced Shamir first caught our attention with his breakthrough single 'On A Regular' back in 2014, we knew that this young Las Vegas native was going to be something special. And after a short push of follow up tracks, Shamir has now delivered his incredibly likeable debut album 'Ratchet'.

Opening with a slow and winding homage to his hometown with 'Vegas', the record soon opens up and breaks out into an incredibly diverse party album with various influences and inspirations taking hold of each track. With a subtle tipping of a hat to 80s and 90s production styles, 'Ratchet' has this incredible ability to feel nostalgic and contemporary all at the same time, almost sounding like what Prince would be like if he was born in this generation.

With a minimal approach to production and keeping the songwriting engaging throughout, Shamir has managed to create an accessible and easy to digester debut, despite how leftfield it initially comes across. It is definitely one of the stand-out releases of the year so far, and will no doubt be the beginning of a great career for this young talent.