Sam Smith - In the Lonely Hour
27/05/2014
Sam Smith. You may know him from featuring on Disclosure’s smash Latch, Naughty Boy’s hit La La La or from tracks of his own right like Money on my Mind or Stay With Me. Given, the man is talented. He deserves the fame and recognition he’s receiving. However, interesting anecdote, I read somewhere recently that he was dubbed as the male Adele. Both young, both British and both have a knack for singing really melancholic stuff. But, that’s such a huge disservice to Adele, as Adele was raw and powerful. Sam Smith, and his debut album In the Lonely Hour, are good. But good is, unfortunately, where it stops. He needed something that was a bit riskier, a bit edgier, a bit sadder, even a bit lonelier, but he just missed his mark.
Don’t get me wrong – the man has some killer pipes. Life Support is the standout that truly shows Smith’s incredible vocal range, which is complimented perfectly by the amalgamation of the orchestral atmosphere and the subtle acoustics. I’ve Told You Now fits into this category as well, except there’s an obvious channelling of 90’s R’n’B (think TLC’s Unpretty), and it climaxes somewhere around the 2:40 mark and you can just imagine him belting this out in the middle of an arena. Unfortunately, not all tracks on this record have that ability. Money on my Mind has an admirable message, but seems disconnected. It’s definitely more electronic based than the rest of the album, and it seems like he’s singing in that high note in the chorus for the sake of doing it. That’s an issue that is coming to prominence within pop music. Yes, musicians can have great, mind-blowing even, vocal ranges, but there’s a time and a place. Your voice doesn’t need to be hitting those admittedly incredible high notes every waking moment.
While Sam Smith is certainly a talented man, this album is just missing something. It’s incredibly mediocre, saved by a few standout tracks. I’m not what Smith can do to help his case, but parading him as the male Adele when that is so obviously not the case isn’t the best way to start.
Standouts: Life Support & I’ve Told You Now
Score: 6/10