Not even Disclosure's rise to fame as trendsetters for last year's U.K. garage revival could overshadow Sam Smith, who lent soulful vocals to the Lawrence brother's whiplashing hit "Latch."It was impossible not to notice Smith's heart-rending range, which seemed to have come out of nowhere (even though the 21-year-old London singer had technically been around since age 12, when he signed a management deal as a preternaturally talented jazz vocalist). Even with his signature unforgettable voice, however, Smith was still trying to figure out his musical identity at that point. As he told Billboard in a recent interview, during the beginning stages of writing his debut LP, "In the Lonely Hour," he wanted to make a "Rihanna record."
It's a good thing he decided not to. Given the success of "Latch" and Smith's follow-up single, Naughty Boy's ridiculously catchy 2013 smash "La La La," he could easily have made a more beat-reliant debut. Instead, "In the Lonely Hour" draws from the same classic soul that spawned albums like Norah Jones'"Come Away With Me," a favorite of Smith's, or Adele's "19," which his album is currently on track to outsell in the U.S. its opening week. More importantly, he sounds comfortable with himself. The acoustic "Latch" that appears toward the end of the 14-track effort is no better or worse than the original; these arrangements seem to come more naturally to Smith. A bed of strings and a simple piano chord progression highlight every snag in his voice, the sudden leap into falsetto, a controlled yet tremulous vibrato.
And Smith bares more than his vocal cords on this record. Every story of unrequited love that's been put to song is powerful in its own right, but Smith's admission that the object of his affection was a man -- besides being a brave thing to do -- put to rest any speculation of his sexuality and set an emotionally open tenor for the rest of his career. “After writing the album," he told Billboard, "I felt I’d given everything out, and I’m willing to keep doing that with my music for the rest of my life." Here's to seeing how he keeps pouring his heart out.
"Money On My Mind": "Money On My Mind" kicks off the album on a sprightly note, with a crisp, skittering backbeat and chopped-up backing exhalations. The first official single is a bit of a bait-and-switch: those kinds of synthesizers don't set the tone for the record but reappear until the very end, and at first listen it's easy to focus on the blaring chorus and miss the "I don't have" that sneaks up beforehand.
"Good Thing": Beginning with swelling strings that spill into a muted guitar line like teardrops breaking (yes, it's that dramatic), the second track is the real beginning of the end that "In the Lonely Hour" is all about. Here lie the first hints of trouble in Smith's relationship, from a dream that he was mugged outside his beloved's house to the worse realization that he dared think his love was reciprocated.
"Stay With Me": Smith wowed an audience likely seeing him for the first time with this stunning cut on "Saturday Night Live." In it, he turns a desperate plea for a one-night stand to stay into an eloquent statement on being a sensitive man who knows what he wants, but has no illusions that he'll get it. With judiciously placed tambourines, the song builds to a resounding gospel chorus that would give goosebumps to even the most hardened Don Juan.
"Leave Your Lover": Asking for one night to keep going, begging the one he's in love with to leave his lover -- anyone who's made those same mistakes knows the outcome usually doesn't work out like a movie ending. This is one of the few moments on the record where it's apparent Smith has never been in a relationship; otherwise he would realize such dramatic concessions (standing in the rain, willing to give up everything) don't work if he's just not that into you.
Rest of review - Source
WELCOME THE NEW ADELE