{"id":43791,"date":"2014-08-06T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-08-06T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/in-the-lonely-hour\/"},"modified":"2026-07-04T11:20:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T11:20:10","slug":"in-the-lonely-hour","status":"publish","type":"review","link":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/in-the-lonely-hour\/","title":{"rendered":"In The Lonely Hour"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was positively effusive in my praise<\/a> of 22-year-old British wunderkind Sam Smith and his debut EP, Nirvana. <\/i>While Smith is being touted as the male counterpart to Adele due to his raw, lovelorn songs and his ability to light up the charts, I swear I can hear echoes of young Freddie Mercury in the maturity and clarity of his range (who undoubtedly would\u2019ve appreciated the precocious Brit). So of course, I was all ears for Smith\u2019s first full-length, released on May 26th<\/sup>. <\/p>\n

How does it stack up to all the hype? Well, I\u2019ve been spinning this disc for the past couple of weeks and I\u2019m left conflicted. Smith emerges as an undeniable vocal talent and a strong songwriter, able to give voice to the loneliness and longing of unrequited love with a graceful simplicity. All good stuff \u2013 so why the conflict? <\/p>\n

The problem here lies in the production, which either does too little or too much to lend support to Smith. While dynamic opener \u201cMoney On My Mind\u201d (lifted from his EP) is fleshed out with skittering drums and an R&B flavor that complements Smith\u2019s falsetto, this earworm of a song is immediately followed by \u201cGood Thing,\u201d which can only be described as Barry Manilow-esque in its instrumentation. The strings and keys blend together in a placid, non-obtrusive fashion that doesn\u2019t add any depth or oomph to Smith\u2019s shapeshifting vocals. Meanwhile, the vulnerability of a track like \u201cLeave Your Lover\u201d needs a less safe accompaniment than a downbeat piano and synth combo.<\/p>\n

This sense of needing more impactful and well-chosen production can be most felt on \u201cI\u2019ve Told You Now,\u201d which appears in a live form on the Nirvana <\/i>EP. Live, the song needs little more than Smith\u2019s gorgeous, lilting vocals, allowed the space to unfold over a backdrop of acoustic guitar and light strings. It\u2019s tender, raw and expressive. But the album version finds the song sped up, padded with strings, jazzy piano and harmonies that threaten to engulf the purity of his voice. <\/p>\n

Still, this is not to say that In The Lonely Hour <\/i>is not without its standout moments. Smith is clearly on his way to becoming an impressive chart-topping talent, particularly when paired with the right people (it\u2019s no coincidence that his dominating appearances on Disclosure\u2019s \u201cLatch\u201d and Naughty Boy\u2019s \u201cLa La La\u201d earned him his first Billboard singles and a UK #1). <\/p>\n

Third single \u201cStay With Me\u201d is utterly lovely, accented by just the right amount of harmonies as Smith pleads to a one-night stand, \u201cOh, won\u2019t you stay with me? \/ \u2018Cause you\u2019re all I need \/ This ain\u2019t love it\u2019s clear to see \/ But darling, stay with me.\u201d Smith being influenced by Whitney Houston can be felt here (check out his incredible cover of \u201cHow Will I Know\u201d). Meanwhile, parts of this disc remind me of George Michael, who\u2019s similarly gifted with a pop sensibility and an impressive vocal range. <\/p>\n

Other standouts include the glitchy, ethereal tone of \u201cLife Support\u201d and \u201cLike I Can,\u201d one of the more aggressive, energetic cuts here with its slow-building guitar as Smith implores to his would-be lover, \u201cWhy are you looking down all the wrong roads \/ When mine is the heart and the salt of the soul?\u201d <\/p>\n

Altogether, In The Lonely Hour <\/i>may have its flaws, but it soars on the strength of Sam Smith\u2019s considerable gifts. As a young artist on a major label debut, it does make me wonder how much of a voice he had in some of the production, and it will be fascinating to see where his style shifts on subsequent releases. Still, if you\u2019ve found yourself impressed by any of Smith\u2019s many singles, this album is worth delving into.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":32051,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[9401],"rating":[5617],"class_list":["post-43791","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-sam-smith","rating-rating-b-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/43791","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/48"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43791"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/43791\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=43791"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=43791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}