But Sam’s music is what matters most, and no fan of the multi-platinum London star will be disappointed by his fourth studio album. Gloria is less bleak than 2020’s Love Goes, beautiful in places, and full of surprises.
The title track is anthem-like and majestic. quite superb
Love Me More opens as one of Smith’s signature tender ballads before kick and snare elevate it into a melancholic mid-tempo boom-bap gem.
The lyrics fit right in with a generation of self-obsessed zoomers struggling to overcome self-hatred. “Have you ever wanted to be someone else?” Sam asks, his voice thick with emotion. “Feeling that the mirror is not good for me, every day I try not to hate myself…”
Unholy, a smash hit collaboration with Kim Petras, finds the duo recounting the raunchy story of a cheating husband, “dirty, dirty boy,” over a deliciously intense beat.
The Middle Eastern minor chord adds a touch of intrigue and danger. It’s Sam who’s looking forward to I’m Not Here To Make Friends, an ’80s-style dance, produced by Calvin Harris.
Lose You is another dance floor with a beat: upbeat and ethereal, a Kylie-esque floor filler.
A collaboration with Jimmy Napes, Jamaican star Koffee, and R&B singer Jessie Reyez, Gimme is infectious, sexually charged, and reggae-flecked with lyrics like “Your eyes on my dun, dun-dun-dun” (it’s unlikely that be a Bake-Off reference).
Six Shots is horny and soulful, while No God is more of an old-school Smith as he celebrates his open and proud sexuality.
The album’s closing track, Who We Love with Ed Sheeran, is a tender piano ballad that washes over you, covering similar ground.
As Sam sings in Perfect: “I’m not perfect, but I’m worth it.”
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