In the lonely hour – Sam Smith
Quick facts… He’s just 22 years old, but he brings with him a lot of hope that not all is lost for fans of good, solid pop music with decent lyrics. He first rose to fame in October 2012 when he was featured on Disclosure's breakthrough single Latch, followed by Naughty Boy's La La La - earning him his first number-one single on the chart in May 2013. Smith was nominated for the 2014 BRIT Critics' Choice Award and the BBC's Sound of 2014 poll, both of which he went on to win. In the lonely hour, his debut studio album, was released at the end of May, reaching the top of the UK Album charts and spawning two number 1 singles: Money on my mind and Stay with me.
Best tracks… Life Support, Money on my mind and Stay with me.
What others have to say… “The dominance of stripped-down backdrops - some with merely piano, acoustic guitar, and conservative strings - is somewhat surprising. That puts all the more focus on Smith's voice and words, the latter of which switch between borderline maudlin ("What use is money when you need someone to hold?") and disarmingly brazen ("Just leave your lover, leave him for me").” www.allmusic.com
What we have to say… How great to discover a young singer who does not feel it’s needed to sing his own name as part of the lyrics. When Smith announced that he was gay, he also announced that the album deals with a love that was not returned. “I've tried to be clever with this album, because it's also important to me that my music reaches everybody. I've made my music so that it could be about anything and everybody – whether it's a guy, a female or a goat – and everybody can relate to that." Although the experience left him feeling lonely and in a dark place, the album has helped him deal with life and move on. We reckon Smith is an artist that will leave his mark for years to come.
It makes us wanna… “...buy scented candles and whisper sweet-nothings in someone’s ears.”
In their own words… In an interview with Interview Magazine, Sam was asked when he writes songs, whether they are generally personal or does he write from the point of view of a character? “As a youngster when I started writing and stuff, I did actually write more from other people's perspectives. When I hit 18 and something happened to me that hurt me, I discovered that writing the truth is really therapeutic and amazing. Every single one of my songs is about something very personal to me and I could tell anyone what it's about, each song. Like a diary, basically.”
Score… Turn the volume up to 7