{"id":31545,"date":"2014-11-14T20:06:45","date_gmt":"2014-11-14T12:06:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=31545"},"modified":"2014-11-14T16:39:27","modified_gmt":"2014-11-14T08:39:27","slug":"sam-smith-the-sad-singer-not-really-pop-star-has-breakthrough-with-honest-brave-album","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2014\/11\/14\/sam-smith-the-sad-singer-not-really-pop-star-has-breakthrough-with-honest-brave-album\/","title":{"rendered":"Sam Smith, the sad singer? Not really; pop star has breakthrough with honest, brave album"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Sam<\/a>
Sam Smith. Jaguar PS \/ Shutterstock.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

NEW YORK\u2014If you go to a Sam Smith concert, you\u2019ll probably hear his stories of unrequited love and how he\u2019s never been in a relationship.<\/p>\n

But he says that void has been slowly filled\u2014partly thanks to meeting men and going on dates\u2014but mainly because of his devoted fans who have helped him top the charts with his album, push millions of singles and sell out stadiums like Madison Square Garden.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going on dates, here and there, meeting people,\u201d Smith said in a recent interview. \u201cI\u2019m not lonely anymore because of that, but obviously I would like someone next to me while I sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added with a laugh: \u201cBut I\u2019m working on that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith has become the year\u2019s breakthrough act thanks to his booming, soulful voice, playful demeanour and deep, honest lyrics that help break up the monotonous, dance heavy sound on pop radio.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the Lonely Hour,\u201d his debut album released in June, has sold more than 772,969 units. His single \u201cStay With Me\u201d peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and sold over 3 million tracks; and other songs have built on his buzz, from another Top 10 hit and multi-platinum success, \u201cLatch\u201d with Disclosure, to the upbeat \u201cLa La La\u201d with Naughty Boy to Smith\u2019s newest single, \u201cI\u2019m Not the Only One,\u201d which jumped to No. 11 this week.<\/p>\n

The 22-year-old has number of big-name fans\u2014from Beyonce to Mary J. Blige, with whom he\u2019s recorded. And he\u2019s been getting calls to collaborate with others.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember being ecstatic for having 200 Facebook likes. …Now I take that completely for granted now that I have like a million. But I\u2019m now thinking, \u2018I really would like two million,\u201d\u2018 he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the Lonely Hour\u201d features pop grooves and ballads about love lapses and loneliness. The lyrics are brave and straightforward\u2014Smith tells one man to leave his lover for him on one song, and one another he\u2019s open about being in love with someone who doesn\u2019t feel the same. And \u201cStay With Me\u201d opens with the line: \u201cGuess it\u2019s true, I\u2019m not good at a one-night stand.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I\u2019m speaking about my insecurities … that\u2019s when my music is the best. And that doesn\u2019t happen every day, so this writing process was quite dramatic and because I was trying to get these songs that were honest and brutal and real,\u201d said Smith, who co-wrote each of the songs. \u201cI\u2019m not a naturally sad person, so I was writing for a year and I wasn\u2019t sad every single day for a year, so that was tough.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said he believes the fans are resonating with his honesty.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole world knows my business now, I\u2019ve got nothing else to hide … and I think that people are respecting that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Smith grew up in a small village in Cambridgeshire, England, and he decided to pursue music after his singing teacher told him he was good. He said he worked with dodgy managers as a teen, leading to false record deals and disappointments. But he persevered, eventually meeting the right producers to help him craft songs that speak from the heart.<\/p>\n

Smith said fans have told him intense stories about connecting to his music. He\u2019s also wants to be a voice for young gay men and women who look up to him.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so, so deeply important to me to be a spokesperson,\u201d Smith said. \u201cI want to be, but not just for gay people, for straight people, for lesbians, transsexuals, anyone in the world. I want my music to relate to absolutely everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sandy Alouete, VH1\u2019s senior vice-president of talent and music programming, calls Smith a true artist.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no gimmick. Watching him on TV or hearing him on the radio, it\u2019s just a pure delivery in a pop world that tends to stray from that,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

VH1 named Smith one of its \u201cYou Oughta Know\u201d artists, and he will perform at the network\u2019s concert celebrating emerging musicians, which airs live Thursday at 9 p.m. EST.<\/p>\n

Alouete recalls attending a Smith show, and taking in the audience.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnyone and everyone was on their feet, singing along\u2014older couples on date nights, parents with their kids, gay, straight, you name it,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s the artist he is and that just happens once in a blue moon.\u201d<\/p>\n

Online<\/h6>\n

http:\/\/samsmithworld.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK\u2014If you go to a Sam Smith concert, you\u2019ll probably hear his stories of unrequited love and how he\u2019s …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":31546,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[106],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31545","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-hollywood","mauthors-mesfin-fekadu","mauthors-the-associated-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31545","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31545"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31545\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31546"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31545"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}