Shamir Bailey’s 2014 single, On the Regular, was a work of sassy urban pop genius, raising hopes for the Las Vegas native’s debut album. It’s fair to say that Ratchet delivers slightly more – and less – than Regular fans bargained for. Bailey’s refusal to be pigeonholed artistically is admirable, but frustrating. Darker is a blowsy ballad that proves Bailey has many strings to his bow, but that his strengths don’t lie along that particular one. In For the Kill starts with a jazzy sax flurry but never quite consolidates into a satisfying genre-bend. Make a Scene, meanwhile, is a juicy 1980s throwback that hits the spot.
