Sam Smith - In the Lonely Hour: "Sam Smith Is the Epitome of Talent"

Rating: ★★★★☆

The release date for Sam Smith's debut album, 'In The Lonely Hour' is finally upon us!
No longer do we have to lie in wait playing 'Money on My Mind' on repeat (or was that just me?)

Sam Smith - In the Lonley Hour released 26th May 2014

Sam Smith shot to fame in the past year after featuring on other artists' songs, including Disclosure's 'latch' and Naughty Boy's 'La, La, La' which Smith co-wrote. In February 2014, he released his own debut single 'Money on My Mind' which became an instant hit, jumping to the top spot in the UK charts. Now months down the line, fans can have a sigh of relief as his album is finally released!

However, before you all go rushing to the shops (or to download it more likely), be warned; don't expect a happy album full of catchy, electronic songs similar to 'Money on My Mind' as it is quite the opposite.

Smith has admitted himself that the album is full of heartbreak;
"My debut album is just a diary from a lonely 21-year-old. I fell in love with someone who didn't love me back, and it made me get into this head space of, 'Will I find love? When will I find love?'"

James Morrison - The Awakening review

For this first post I want to share with you a little golden oldie review I did a few years ago but have never shared...

James Morrison - The Awakening * * *

The Awakening album cover

After a three year wait fans can express a sigh of relief as the soulful singer, James Morrison is back with his debut album, The Awakening.  Following the critical yet successful previous album Songs for you, Truths for me, James revealed in interviews that he is fed up of writing and singing pop love songs and just wants to write meaningful songs that people “just get.” So has he pulled it off?

It is safe to say there is no one on the music scene like James Morrison. He constantly experiments with his music, combining various genres of music in order to get the best feel. So as James is such a fantastic, talented, artist, it is disappointing to say that his debut album doesn’t pay off. James wrote the tracks on this album after experiencing the death of his beloved father. So you would think that the songs would be oozing emotion, but sadly this is not the case. The album seems to lack any emotion or passion, and this is coming from a big James Morrison fan.

However, it’s not all bad; there is a great variety between up-beat songs like ‘Slave to the music’ and ballads like ‘In my dreams.’ James has also incorporated another duet after the duet with Nelly Furtado, ‘Broken Strings’ from his previous album became a number one hit. The new duet, ‘Up’ features R&B icon Jessie J; the contrast of their musical genres is actually very fitting and is guaranteed to be big. 

It would be extremely harsh to say this album is bad. The awakening is a decent album with some good songs to sing-a-long and dance to, the album just lacks the emotion and passion that it should have. It also does not have as many hits as his previous albums. However, it is still recommended to give the album a listen; it’s a grower.

Best tracks: Up, I won’t let you go, One life