![]() Smith and produced by Jimmy Napes and Steve Fitzmaurice. ![]() The two-disc release will also include covers of Amy Winehouse’s Love Is A Losing Game and Whitney Houston’s How Will I Know? as well as exclusive new track Drowning Shadows – co-written by Smith and Fraser T. In The Lonely Hour: The Drowning Shadows Edition is set for UK release on November 6 and features collaborations with Mary J Blige, ASAP Rocky and John Legend. While he provided an emollient edge to Disclosure’s oscillating"Latch” and Naughty Boy’s playful “La La La”, the results are certainly less inspiring in his own environment.Sam Smith will release an extended version of his debut album In The Lonely Hour. Smith’ sugary falsetto comes across a tad one dimensional and inexpressive on his solo debut In The Lonely Hour. All its missing is a superfluous key change. That is, until final track Lay Me Down begins intimately before arriving at Boys II Men territory with a kitchen sink arrangement it’s Smith channelling the moment on X Factor where the white gowned gospel choir appear out of nowhere and the screen fills up with pixelated confetti. ![]() Most of the album steers clear of cliché rather deftly, and the uncluttered production avoids any unwelcome syrupy-ness. “Leave Your Lover/Leave him for me” he knows what he wants and he’s prepared to play dirty to get it. Here, Smith goes some way to shed the translucent sheen of self-depreciating introspection that lies heavy on most of In The Lonely Hour. It’s juxtaposition with “Leave Your Lover”, a well crafted and refreshingly direct track co written by Cherry Ghost’s Simon Aldred, is effective though. The irksome “Money on My Mind” leaves a little to be desired, both as album opener and lead single, and seems slightly disingenuous too “I don’t have money on my mind/I do it for the love”. All the meaningful introspection of his debut seems a tad unconvincing as a result. ![]() ![]() It’s doesn’t possess the visceral quality required to prickles the neck hairs, and it’s never arresting enough to transport the listener. It might be the sheer prettiness of his voice that limits its appeal. It’s certainly at the glossier end of the spectrum though at times Smith’s material sounds like Maverick Sabre put through a mangle, with all the interesting stuff straightened out. (I’m pretty sure latest single “Stay with Me” is as close to Sandé you can get without actually breaching copyright). Debut LP In The Lonely Hour sees Smith ride the tail end of the British Retro-Soul wave, and shares similarities with the likes of Emili Sandé and Adele. ![]()
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December 2022
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