Can’t believe it’s been 3 years since Sam Smith gave us his debut album, In The Lonely Hour. This is the same album that won him four Grammy awards and made him one of the biggest names in music today.
Fast forward to 2017, as we patiently anticipated Sam Smith’s second album, The Thrill of it All, and he constantly whetted our appetites with singles from the album which included the songs Too Good at Goodbyes, Burning and Pray. Those three songs set the bar and what was left unanswered was whether the rest of the album would be just as fire.
It’s safe to say that Sam Smith didn’t disappoint in his new album. He is certainly in a different place from when he worked on the first album and you can feel that in the music.
You feel like he has more understanding of himself and what he wants especially with regards to his relationships. This is certain from the first two tracks in the album, Too Good at Goodbyes and Say it First.
HIM was one of the most anticipated song in the album and rightly so. In the song, the persona is coming out to his father, priest and to God – “Holy Father”. He tries to make those who disapprove understand that no matter how hard they try, he is this way and no one can change him.
Sam features Yebba in a duet titled, No Peace, which is one of my favorite tracks off the album. The vocals are something else but what I love is how the song brings out the “conversation” between Yebba and Sam as voices to the two personas.
There are four special edition bonus tracks which includes the song, The Thrill of it All, from which the title of the album is drawn. I love the last of these songs, One Day at A Time, which has a very uplifting feel to it and is definitely the best song to end the playlist.
All in all, the new album doesn’t disappoint though it doesn’t have the emotional feel that was carried by the first. But, as stated earlier, the new album was not written with the artist in the same place he was a few years back and as humans we have to evolve depending on what’s going on in our lives.
