Shamir - Ten & "Neverwannago"! New album, single + video!
“Neverwannagois a pristine hit of ’90s-style alt-pop that balances sun-drenched vibes with just the right amount of melancholy.” – Rolling Stone
Shapeshifting Philadelphia-via-Vegas artist Shamir announced his final solo album Ten, out on Kill Rock Stars this spring. Less a swan song than an act of creative transference after a decade-long music career, the project is a love letter to friends who shaped Shamir’s life - 10 songs written by those closest to him, unused demos, and castaways given a new life. Along with the announcement of his forthcoming album, Shamir unveils its lead single, “Neverwannago” - written by Andrew Harmon (Like St. Joan) with a video directed by Matthew Ober featuring musician August Nandé, Shamir is enveloped in a '90s alt-girl nostalgia wonderland.
Performing and collaborating with everyone from Le Tigre and Courtney Barnett to Troye Sivan, Rina Sawayama and Mac DeMarco, Shamir’s career has been one of constant evolution - from the dancefloor irreverence of 2015’s Ratchet on XL Recordings to the lo-fi catharsis of his self-titled 2020 album. Heterosexuality followed in 2022, a searingly confessional record that wove together industrial flourishes and razor-edged vulnerability.
Ten finds Shamir in yet another mode: a conduit rather than a confessor, an interpreter rather than an architect. With his HBIC (Head Bunny in Charge) Leche on the cover, the communal and personal epilogue binds together disparate narratives with Shamir’s singular voice, ragged and divine.
Over the past decade, Shamir has navigated a music industry that has never quite known what to do with him — fluctuating success, industry indifference, and, at times, outright hostility. Ten is, in contrast, an exercise in love. It is a reclamation of music as a shared language, rather than a performance of self.
Ten is not the sound of an artist burning out. It is the sound of an artist setting himself free.
Starring: Shamir Bailey, August Nandé Director/Editor: Matthew Ober Producer: Shamir Bailey Director of Photography: Max Nemhauser Colorist: Peter Voskuil 1st AC: Charley Parker Gaffer: Rick Cook Swing: Sam Dellert Floral Design: Genise Deal Art Department: Katie Delaney Backdrops: Done & Dusted Studio: Stevie Chris Photography
