Have you ever felt like being somebody else? […] Every day I’m tryin’ not to hate myself […] Just a little bit (love me more), sings Sam Smith on the opening track of his fourth album, Gloria, excerpt released several months ago.
It will be understood that the artist who made himself known with the group Disclosure before becoming a pop star who won Grammy awards suffered a lot before accepting and identifying himself as a non-binary person.
Gloria therefore includes a great therapeutic dimension, although it is a pop album. The gospel voices add depth to the subject while the many ballads testify to a great fragility to exult. We like when Sam Smith does not push the note too much by singing in a hushed way (on Six Shotsfor example) and when the performer starts flirting on the dance floor with I’m Not Here to Make Friends (co-written with Calvin Harris).
We find well-felt duets: under the sign of vulnerability with the Torontonian Jessie Reyez (Perfect)in a rather carnal way with the German Kim Petras (Unholy) and all in candor with his British compatriot Ed Sheeran (Who We Love).
The quality of the songs and vocal performances are there, but there is an intensity that you have to be willing to take. Under the sign of liberation, Gloria is certainly not a pop album that we listen to lightly. However, it was the same with Sam Smith’s third album, Love Goes, which followed a breakup. His audience knows what to expect. For others, you have been warned.
POP
Gloria
Sam Smith
Universal