Shamir

Shamir is Shamir Bailey, a 19-year-old musician from Las Vegas. He grew up not on the strip but in the desert, right across the street from a pig farm. Like many people his age, Shamir listens to all kinds of music, and sees no difference between Taylor Swift and Mac DeMarco. He played in a punk band called Anorexia, and taught himself guitar by learning old country songs. Northtown, his debut EP on small New York label GODMODE, had gospel, house, pop, disco, and country elements.

But mostly? That voice. It’s Shamir’s alien, androgynous voice that got people talking this year. Nothing sounds like Shamir, and nope, that’s not falsetto. As powerful as it is though, Shamir’s voice has a humble quality to it. He uses simple words and sings about relatable feelings. He knows which words to simmer on, and which ones to let go. Shamir can be exuberant, and his joy can be infectious. He can also sing of loneliness – and make us all feel less alone.

“On The Regular,” his first single on XL, is strictly the former – 100% pure id. It’s a hip-house tune that features Shamir rapping in a fast-paced early 80s playground style. His boasts are ridiculous. His taunts are absurd. A certain toy manufacturer does not come out looking good. As for the rest of us? It’s hard to listen to this song and not feel invincible.

Harriet Brown

Be ready 2 make CONTACT with producer, writer and performer Harriet Brown.

He’s got 20/15 Vision, in the left eye, 2 be specific, and HB has his sights on U. Ascending from Los Angeles by way of the Bay Area, HB is fresh on the scene and ready 2 take U all the way up 2 space and back with his debut album, Contact, the follow-up to his 2014 EP, New Era.

Composed, arranged, co-produced and performed by your very own himself, Contact is a concept album about communication and the contact we purposely, accidentally and inherently struggle to make between friends, lovers and strangers, be them human or otherwise. What contact do we make with our higher being, that compels us to fall back and ground our asses when we get too high past them clouds? Or what is this fear we feel as a result of broken communication, a sorta paralysis in the face of a potential threat to our collected cool? These are the questions HB’s asking and communicating 2 U all. 

And when it comes 2 the live show, HB will stun U. It’s an all-in-one package deal with sensual vocals, live loops, groovin’ drum machines, manic guitar lines and thick synths, all at the hands of one being. It’s no secret that this multi-instrumentalist and producer is influenced sonically and ethically by The Artist himself. And If Prince is his king, Sade is his queen, as they reside over an ever expanding court of every genre that falls in between.

He’s not what U’d expect and that’s what makes HB’s language all the more engaging. Cause its a language of disconnection, a speak that breaks down stereotypes and genres. He’s not all funk, he’s not all RnB, and he sure ain’t pure pop or rock either. Sexual and sensitive, ambiguous and androgynous, who is this alien creature, sending us encoded messages like we got ESP? Don’t U wanna know?

So what do U say,

R U ready 2 get EVER so Freaky with ya very own Harriet Brown?

Chanti Darling

R&B comes in many different flavors. Perhaps you prefer the glossy, Auto-Tuned visions being mass produced on the modern pop assembly line. Or you just grin at the little morsels sprinkled into current rock and country compositions. But if you’re looking for something far more substantive and satisfying than all that, Chanti Darling is here for you. 
Led by former Magic Mouth vocalist Chanticleer Trü, this project’s driving inspiration is to bring R&B back to the forefront of pop consciousness. To honor the funky dance floor jams of yesteryear—those soulful soul burners that defied genre and have now burned off into the ether—while bringing an element of futurism to the mix. 
This has long been a dream of Trü, a lover of R&B that grew up on the vintage funk, disco, and boogie sounds of Prince, Patrice Rushen, Cheryl Lynn, and Klymaxx; and the productions of Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis and the Chic Organisation. It took him a little while to direct his energies toward it as he had to spend a couple of years burning up stages with Magic Mouth and in collaboration with beloved ensemble the Portland Cello Project. But after a small break, he began writing songs and clarifying his vision for what would become Chanti Darling. 
To aid him on this journey, Trü has reached out to some friends he has made along his musical journey, finding welcome support from fellow sonic wizards Natasha Kmeto and Damon Boucher, both fearsome solo artists in their own right. With them in his corner, Chanti Darling became a reality, with a set of songs that are sexy, playful, fierce, and joyous. 
True to the source of inspiration, the project has only been evolving since then, especially when it comes to its soon-to-be-legendary live performances. Trü has welcomed friends like Rebecca Cole (The Minders, Wild Fang) and Hannah Billie (The Gossip) to help bring these songs to life on stage. The only constant has been his collaboration with choreographer/dancers William Ylvisaker and Maarqui who provide the colorful and necessary dance moves and smoldering stage presence to accompany Trü’s songs of love, lust, and losing yourself in the sound. 
The work is not going unnoticed. Chanti Darling was welcomed to the lineups of Pickathon, Treefort Fest, and What The Festival; played a host of shows with the brilliant Hercules & Love Affair; and shared the stage with Battles at a Red Bull Sound Select show. With these and their own soul-shaking gigs, the project has catapulted to the head of the Portland scene where their fellow musicians and local tastemakers anointed Chanti Darling the city’s Best New Band in the annual poll held by alt-weekly Willamette Week. 
The next step is to let the rest of world know that R&B ain’t no joke. Plans are already afoot with the finishing touches being placed on the first Chanti Darling LP, to be released in 2017 by Tender Loving Empire (home of Willis Earl Beal, Typhoon, and Loch Lomond, among others) and venturing out to stages beyond the Northwest. And it couldn’t come at a better time. 
“For a long time this music lived on the radio,” says Trü, “but it’s fallen off the radar and changed. Luckily, it’s starting to come back a bit now, right when we need it. It was serious but it had a lot of levity to it. I really want to go full force with that contrast. Everything’s gotten so dark, it’s time to bring some of that lightheartedness back.”