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As the song slowly builds, he deliberately releases each syllable of desire - politely but potently, asking for permission to be loved, his voice the most powerful instrument in the arrangement. The show-stopping closer, "Lay Me Down," functions as the opening track's opposite it's simplistic in its compositional approach, and Smith takes advantage of the sparse landscape. With an aversion to genre commitment, Smith flits deftly from power-pop ballads ("Like I Can") to grandiose soul and gospel ("Stay With Me"). In tale after tale of affection, Smith sings of longing, self-doubt, jealousy and bad habits. But In the Lonely Hour doesn’t properly answer whether or not Smith’s current chart domination signals future success. In the Lonely Hour is brimming with love - though, as its title suggests, it's often unrequited. From those first soaring chorus notes of Latch it was clear that he would be next in line for the greatness that both bolstered Adele and ruined Amy Winehouse. Smith wastes no time showcasing his falsetto over the hook, defying the song's title by insisting that he actually doesn't have money on his mind: "I do it for the love," he repeats. The album begins busily with "Money on My Mind," with its flurry of off-beat snaps, driving drums and pulsing keys. But on his full-length debut, In the Lonely Hour, he proves that he can play that game when he feels like it. With a steady, well-trained swell of a voice and a knack for whipping in and out of his falsetto in a hairsbreadth, he doesn't feel the need to hide - not by stifling his vocal abilities and not by ducking beneath distracting, colorful production. There are no dull moments here, only highlights.Sam Smith's new album, In the Lonely Hour, comes out June 17.īritish singer-songwriter Sam Smith isn't shy. These are compact little numbers that squeeze together so many interesting compositional phrases-choruses, b-sections, bridges, etc.-that you’d be remiss not to pay attention. So does “Not In That Way,” which finds Smith singing to a spare guitar about unrequited love, and “Like I Can,” an adrenaline-charged number where he shoots down his competition (“He’ll never love you like I can, can, can”). A song like “Stay With Me”-with its gospel-inspired chord progression and goose-bump-inducing choir-sung backgrounds-clocks in at just under three minutes. But much like the AM radio-era classic soul that they aspire to mimic, Smith’s songs are short and to the point. These days, artists often overthink, oversing and overproduce their records incidentally, songs sound like they’ll never end. In the Lonely Hour also has brevity on its side. Peep his breathy falsetto on “Life Support”-that’s a metaphor for his partner-where you can almost visualize him in the recording booth, eyes closed, belting out notes. Originally scheduled for June 5, the album's release was delayed as a gesture of solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and the global protests following the murder of George Floyd. There’s a soulfulness to him that not everyone has. Ungodly Hour is the second studio album by American R&B duo Chloe x Halle.It was released through Parkwood Entertainment and Columbia Records on June 12, 2020. The arrangements are lush and expansive-“Good Thing” and “I’m Not the Only One,” are notably highlights-but the songs are brought to life by Smith’s clever vocal arpeggiations and phrasings. That isn’t to say Smith is a better singer, but on this LP his vocals are out in front of the mix, occasionally drenched in cathedral-like reverbs and delays, which gives the LP a dated sound.

While critics often compare him to Adele, In the Lonely Hour sounds substantially more raw than anything she’s ever done. One of Smith’s biggest selling points is, again, his voice.