Influences:
- Adele, Amy Winehouse, Whitney Houston, Beyoncé, Mariah Carey, Lady Gaga, Chaka Khan
But every time you hurt me, the less that I cry
And every time you leave me, the quicker these tears dry
And every time you walk out, the less I love you
Baby, we don't stand a chance, it's sad, but it's true
I'm way too good at goodbyes
And every time you leave me, the quicker these tears dry
And every time you walk out, the less I love you
Baby, we don't stand a chance, it's sad, but it's true
I'm way too good at goodbyes
— "Too Good At Goodbyes"
Samuel Frederick Smith (born 19 May 1992) is an English singer-songwriter.
Smith primarily performs in the R&B genre while borrowing elements of pop, soul, rock, electronica and folk. Their first success came when they were featured on the songs "Latch" by Disclosure, and "La La La" by Naughty Boy. Eventually, they won the 2015 Grammy for Best New Artist, 2014 BRIT Critic's Choice Award and the BBC's Sound of 2014 poll, and their debut album In the Lonely Hour was released in May 2014. Smith performed the title theme for the James Bond film Spectre, "Writing's on the Wall", netting the Golden Globe and the Oscar for Best Original Song (much like fellow-Brit Adele did for its predecessor Skyfall).
Smith came out as gay in May 2014
, and has publicly had multiple relationships with men. They came out as non-binary in March 2019, and has used they/them pronouns since September 2019.
Discography:
- Nirvana (EP) (2013)
- In the Lonely Hour (2014)Singles: "Lay Me Down" (original version, 2013), "Money on My Mind" (2014), "Stay with Me" (2014), "I'm Not the Only One" (2014), "Restart" (2014), "Like I Can" (2014), "Lay Me Down" (album version & John Legend remix, 2015)
- The Thrill of It All (2017)Singles: "Too Good at Goodbyes" (2017), "One Last Song" (2017), "Pray" (2018), "Baby, You Make Me Crazy" (2018)
- Love Goes (2020)Singles: "Dancing with a Stranger" (2019), "How Do You Sleep?" (2019), "I Feel Love" (2019), "To Die For" (2020), "My Oasis" (2020), "Diamonds" (2020), "Kids Again" (2020)
- Gloria (2023)Singles: "Love Me More" (2022), "Unholy" (2022)
Oh, won't you trope with me?/'Cause they're all I need:
- Ambiguous Syntax: The final line of "Leave Your Lover" reads "Leave your lover/Leave him for me." Most would instinctively read it as "leave your lover and be with me," but The Reveal at the end of the music video (as well as the fact that Smith is gay) implies the meaning to be "leave your lover so that I can be with him."
- Boléro Effect: The album version of "Lay Me Down"—sadly, on the video version, this bit is toned down.
- Concept Album: In the Lonely Hour, as the title implies, focuses on a slow and sad-sounding sound because the songs focus on loneliness, sadness, and longing for love.
- Dramatic Choir Number: "Stay With Me" has a mellow gospel choir joining the chorus about pleading for the singer's fling to stay for the night.
- Genre-Busting: While prominently pop-soul, In the Lonely Hour also jumps around to incorporating influences of breakbeat ("Money on My Mind"), synthpop ("Life Support"), disco ("Restart"), alternative rock ("Like I Can"), folk ("Not in That Way" and "Leave Your Lover"), and soft rock ("I'm Not the Only One" and "Stay with Me").
- Lonely Piano Piece: The acoustic version of "Lay Me Down".
- Murderous Mannequin: In the video for "To Die For", the singer is a wigless mannequin head staring out of a window display. After a while, the singer is the only mannequin head left. A man walks by who smashes in the window and takes the singer with him.
- Real Life Writes the Plot: The album In the Lonely Hour was inspired by when they were heartbroken after suffering from unrequited love.
- Rearrange the Song: "Lay Me Down" originally was released in 2013 as an upbeat soul ballad. The album version of the song is more progressive and epic in nature, and the video version of the song (quite sadly) removes the drums and extra strings.
- Retraux: Their music is a throwback to '60s soul and gospel.
- The Rich Have White Stuff: The husband of "I'm Not the Only One" is the rich guy to have the all-white stuff, contrasted with the darkness when they're cheating.
- Spear Counterpart: Smith was often referred to as a "male Adele", but they don't like the comparison. This may be in part because the "male" part isn't exactly accurate. There are similarities between Sam and Adele's music and singing styles, and the fact that both won Oscars for singing James Bond themes no doubt hasn't decreased the number of comparisons, but to be fair, Sam and Adele's styles aren't identical.
- Stepford Smiler: The wife from the "I'm Not the Only One" music video is Type A.
- Video Full of Film Clips: "Writing's on the Wall" with clips of Spectre.
- Wedding/Death Juxtaposition: The music video for "Lay Me Down" takes place at a cathedral during a funeral for Sam's husband. Midway through the video, the scene transitions to a flashback of their wedding at the same cathedral.
- A Wild Rapper Appears!: A$AP Rocky in the remix of "I'm Not the Only One".
- Wham Line: From "I'm Not the Only One":You say I'm crazy
Cause you don't think I know what you've done
But when you call me baby
I know I'm not the only one
