For instance, Like I Can feels tuned for radio plays. "In The Lonely Hour" plays it very - very - safe indeed. Not much has been said of the arrangements and melodies so far mainly because the album's musical excursions are sparse. And those are pretty much most of what "In The Lonely Hour" has to say. He finds himself bogged in a relationship with an unfaithful partner he has a hard time leaving ( I'm Not The Only One - the first song in which we hear a bit of grit in his voice and with it a bit of a fighting spirit), he finally curses out a lover that doesn't give him the time of in I've Told You Now - the song with some of the weirdest intonation choices, as if Sam couldn't settle on just one way to approach the subject matter - and he laments about a close friend who couldn't possible reciprocate his feelings in Not In That Way, an acoustic piercing ballad which holds some of the most poignant lyrics ("I hate to say I want you when you make it so clear you don't want me"). Sam navigates relationships, platonic and romantic alike, struggling to find a place to call home. After an introductory track - Money On My Mind - where we learn that Sam is proud of not being a sell-out and made the album out of love before anything else, the loneliness odyssey begins with Good Thing, a track dedicated to a relationship headed for failure past its honeymoon phase. Its lyrics and ambiance are rooted in Sam's loneliness in a crown of passing or impossible matches. "In The Lonely Hour" is at its heart a testimony to the power and pain of unrequited love. "In The Lonely Hour" really is a monotonous experience, unveiling little surprise three tracks in and beyond, working with a pop brand that layers vocals and calls forth sporadic horns and strings to wear the more worldly soul badge. If anything, the album might be worth a - quick - detour for Sam's vocal delivery.
Indeed lyrical content could have done with a little more depth and creative flair. Coming from a deeply personal place, Sam Smith described his album as the "diary from a lonely 21-year-old", perhaps too literally.
His outstanding vocals already stood out - and won him Pop Vocal Album of the Year at the 57th Grammy's - but the public knew little of his songwriting. Sam Smith's 2014 debut "In The Lonely Hour" came after he was propelled at the top of the charts for his work with Disclosure and Naughty Boy on "Latch" and "La La La".
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