December 2017 - Music
Album of the Month - The Thrill Of It All by Sam Smith
His debut LP, In the Lonely Hour, clarified matters, racking up ridiculous stream and sales numbers, plus four Grammys. Now, doubling down on his magnificent, gender-nonconforming voice while pushing his song craft forward, Smith's second LP knights one of the mightiest, most expressive vocalists of his generation.
Where Lonely Hour led with beats, Thrill of It All opens on lonely piano chords and Smith's whispering high tenor, which sweeps up to falsetto on the pre-chorus, soon echoed by a choir and handclaps. The song, "Too Good at Goodbyes," has gotten over 120 million YouTube plays since its release as a single, and establishes the ruling formula for album, one which Smith laid out on his biggest hit "Stay With Me" – an aching lover pleading with a paramour against slow-building gospel-pop rapture. He mixes up. "One Last Song" adds choral muscle and Memphis brass to a doo-wop strut that echoes Amy Winehouse, as does "Baby You Make Me Crazy" (Smith's live version of the late singer's "Tears Dry on Their Own" is worth searching for). On the tortured "Burning," which begins with a haunting acapella, Smith confesses despondency, flying up and down his vocal range, each switchback escalating the drama until yet another churchy choir raises the roof. "No Peace" is a showpiece duet with up-and-comer Yebba, a Harlem-based singer via West Memphis, Arkansas, whose full breakout moment must be close at hand. My rating 9/10
His debut LP, In the Lonely Hour, clarified matters, racking up ridiculous stream and sales numbers, plus four Grammys. Now, doubling down on his magnificent, gender-nonconforming voice while pushing his song craft forward, Smith's second LP knights one of the mightiest, most expressive vocalists of his generation.
Where Lonely Hour led with beats, Thrill of It All opens on lonely piano chords and Smith's whispering high tenor, which sweeps up to falsetto on the pre-chorus, soon echoed by a choir and handclaps. The song, "Too Good at Goodbyes," has gotten over 120 million YouTube plays since its release as a single, and establishes the ruling formula for album, one which Smith laid out on his biggest hit "Stay With Me" – an aching lover pleading with a paramour against slow-building gospel-pop rapture. He mixes up. "One Last Song" adds choral muscle and Memphis brass to a doo-wop strut that echoes Amy Winehouse, as does "Baby You Make Me Crazy" (Smith's live version of the late singer's "Tears Dry on Their Own" is worth searching for). On the tortured "Burning," which begins with a haunting acapella, Smith confesses despondency, flying up and down his vocal range, each switchback escalating the drama until yet another churchy choir raises the roof. "No Peace" is a showpiece duet with up-and-comer Yebba, a Harlem-based singer via West Memphis, Arkansas, whose full breakout moment must be close at hand. My rating 9/10
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