ALBUM OF THE WEEK

Sam Smith The Thrill Of It All Capitol, out now

You know you’ve made it in music when your album is released in November. High hopes are pinned on Sam Smith’s follow-up to In The Lonely Hour, which sold 12million copies. Deeply sensitive and popular, he is the male answer to Adele. After hitting the jackpot, it’s all too easy to make a difficult second album. Smith, who is 25, has said he found it hard adjusting to fame, but it doesn’t show here. There are no panic moves. Smith just carries on what he does best: emoting. He has such a presence at the microphone – intimate, tremulous, lachrymose – that it hardly matters what he’s singing. His natural habitat is the gospel-tinged ballad, but he could find the hidden sorrow in Good Vibrations. The best tracks here – Burning, Him, No Peace – glow with intensity.

Tim de Lisle