Sam Smith’s sad, sad songs
Weep through his new Thrill, track by track
Sam Smith, pop music’s scruffy, perpetually heartbroken Adele-in-training, has accomplished an impressive feat on his new album, The Thrill of It All (out Friday), sounding even sadder than he did on his last album. That was his 2014 debut, In The Lonely Hour, which earned Smith worldwide fame, armfuls of Grammys and a sad-boy reputation.
Thrill’s title is a knowing joke, considering the lack of thrills to be found by its tortured characters as they chainsmoke away their heartbreak. Here’s every song, ranked from least to most sad:
10 Pray. This is Smith in church mode: a gospel choir, handclapping and lyrics about saints and sinners. It’s paint-by-numbers soul music, just without the soul.
9 Baby You Make Me Crazy. Of the album’s many tracks dedicated to drinking, smoking and dancing away the pain, Baby You Make Me Crazy is the most cheerful, thanks to its bouncy horns. It’s also among the album’s most forgettable songs, a hint that “upbeat” isn’t Smith at his best.
8 One Last Song. This is retro doowop more focused on moving past an ex than wallowing. As wonderful as it is that Smith is moving on, that doesn’t mean he can’t serve up some emotional devastation for the rest of us.
7 Him. The album’s socially aware moment, a missive on same-sex love aimed at both a familial and heavenly father who disapproves of his son. It may reach listeners who have experienced similar struggles, but it’s a little heavy-handed in its messaging.
6 Too Good at Goodbyes. The lead single sees Smith showing off the thicker skin he has built up. Still, it’s probably not going to make you cry.
5 No Peace. This starts as a moody R&B song and ends up a riffing contest between Smith and the track’s guest vocalist, Yebba, on a song that could hit harder if it didn’t sound like a middling American Idol performance. No peace, no tears.
4 Say It First. The singer is uncharacteristically hopeful as he tries to squeeze an “I love you” out of a partner. Yet the listener never finds out whether his love was reciprocated.
3 Midnight Train. Yes, the title is a cliché. But Train’s “I choose me, and I know that’s selfish love” is the album’s best opening lyric, and as its title suggests, it features Smith in independence mode walking away from his man.
2 Palace. This isn’t the album’s most obviously sad song, but it’s low-key devastating. For those who like their breakup songs unburdened by swooping orchestral arrangements, Palace is a knife to the heart.
1 Burning. Songs like this are the reason casual listeners turn to Smith. It’s the obvious choice for the album’s saddest track, a skeletal piano ballad that sees Smith consuming massive amounts of cigarettes as he destroys himself in the absence of a former love.