Sam Smith Gloria Review: A Disconnection Between Content and Form

As much as Smith tries to step out of the box, the singer still sounds most comfortable playing to their previously established strengths.

Sam Smith, Gloria
Photo: Capitol Records

Jean-Luc Godard once called his 1980 film Every Man for Himself his “second first film.” Likewise, Gloria feels a lot like Sam Smith’s second first album. The differences between the English singer-songwriter’s 2014 debut album, In the Lonely Hour, and their fourth are stark. While the opening track, “Love Me More,” is reminiscent of the type of conventional material that might have handily won Smith multiple Grammys just a few years ago, the rest of Gloria serves as a colorful new chapter in the singer’s ongoing personal and artistic evolution.

But while the album certainly aspires to articulate a redefining thesis statement for Smith, there’s a major disconnect between content and form here. Take “Unholy,” the album’s seismic lead single and towering centerpiece: The track’s lurching baseline and metallic percussion would sound right at home on a PC Music compilation, with a variety of off-kilter flourishes, such as its bouncy drum kick pattern and stuttering bass, thrown into the mix. The lyrics, though, are a little too cutesy to ever feel as truly transgressive as the music itself. Even the song’s sole cuss word is edited out by the high-pitched ring of a bell.

Similarly, the Calvin Harris-produced “I’m Not Here to Make Friends,” a disco-influenced dance cut, ranks as one of Smith’s most joyful vocal performances to date. But while it’s a welcome change of pace from the more traditional heartbreak ballads that populated Smith’s previous releases, the song is too sterilized to ever feel like it’s fully embracing a lascivious worldview suggested by lines like “I’m a blessing of a body to love on.” The same issue plagues “Gimmie,” an attempt at a sultry dancehall jam marred by guest Jessie Reyez’s gratingly repetitive chorus.

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Ironically, Gloria’s highlights are its more intimate tracks, the ones that shy away from the bombast of the album’s flashier moments. The acoustic “How to Cry” details the end of an emotionally unsatisfying relationship with a refreshing amount of sympathy toward the other party, while the R&B-infused “Six Shots” finds Smith finally getting down and dirty instead of simply tip-toeing around sexual subject matter like so many other tracks on Gloria. And therein lies the album’s biggest problem: For as much as Smith tries to step out of the box, they still sound most comfortable playing to their previously established strengths.

Score: 
 Label: Capitol  Release Date: January 27, 2023  Buy: Amazon

Paul Attard

Paul Attard is a New York-based lifeform who enjoys writing about experimental cinema, rap/pop music, games, and anything else that tickles their fancy. Their writing has also appeared in MUBI Notebook.

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