Gloria (Sam Smith album) explained

Gloria
Type:studio
Artist:Sam Smith
Cover:Sam Smith - Gloria.png
Alt:Portrait of Smith with bleached hair, a shoulder tattoo of two men kissing and wearing a golden earring
Genre:
Length:33:03
Label:Capitol
Prev Title:Love Goes: Live at Abbey Road Studios
Prev Year:2021
Next Title:In the Lonely Hour 10 Year Anniversary Edition
Next Year:2024

Gloria is the fourth studio album by English singer-songwriter Sam Smith, released on 27 January 2023 through Capitol Records. The album serves as a follow-up to Love Goes (2020).[2] Smith took creative control on the album, resulting in gaining an increasingly provocative image in the public eye. Musically, Gloria is a pop album, with lyrical themes of sex, lies, passion, self-expression, and imperfection.

Gloria received positive reviews from critics. It was supported by four singles; "Love Me More", "Unholy", a collaboration with Kim Petras,[3] "Gimme", a collaboration with Koffee and Jessie Reyez, and "I'm Not Here to Make Friends". "Unholy" became the most successful single from the album, topping the charts in Australia, Austria, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States, becoming both Smith and Petras' first chart-topper in the latter. The song also won the award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards.

Commercially, Gloria debuted at number one in United Kingdom, Australia and Ireland, and has moved over 1.6 million album-equivalent units worldwide.[4] To support the album, Smith embarked on Gloria the Tour, touring the United Kingdom, Ireland, Europe, North America, Australia, and New Zealand, and they additionally performed at the 2023 BRIT Awards, the 65th Annual Grammy Awards, and at the Royal Albert Hall.

Background and recording

The album was recorded between Los Angeles, London and Jamaica, with Smith working with regular collaborators Jimmy Napes, Stargate and Ilya Salmanzadeh,[5] as well as expecting further contributions from Los Hendrix, Max Martin and Calvin Harris. Smith stated that the album "feels like a coming of age" and got them "through some dark times", and expressed a hope that it could also be a "beacon" for listeners. A press release called it a "personal revolution" for Smith, containing the "dazzling, sumptuous, sophisticated, unexpected and at times thrilling, edgy sound of Sam's creative heart today", as well as lyrics about "sex, lies, passion, self-expression, and imperfection".[6]

Promotion

Smith announced the album on their social media accounts on 17 October 2022, writing a note to their "dearest sailors", Smith's name for their fans, and sharing the cover art, a portrait of Smith with bleached hair wearing a golden earring of an anchor and pearl.[6] Smith performed "Unholy" with Petras and "Gloria" with Sharon Stone as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live.[7]

Singles

The first track to be released from the album was the single "Love Me More" on 28 April 2022.[8] "Unholy", a collaboration with German singer Kim Petras, followed on 22 September 2022 and was promoted as the second single.[9] [10] It reached number one in several countries, including Australia, Canada, the UK and the US,[11] as well as number one on the Billboard Global 200.[12]

The track "Gimme" was released as the album's third single on 11 January 2023. It is a collaboration with Canadian singer-songwriter Jessie Reyez and Jamaican musician Koffee.

On 27 January 2023, the same day of the album's release, "I'm Not Here to Make Friends" was released as the fourth single.

Promotional singles

"Gloria" was released on 20 January 2023, one week before Gloria, as a promotional single.[13]

Tour

See main article: Gloria the Tour. On 21 October 2022, Sam Smith announced Gloria the Tour via their Instagram account. The concert run began on April 12, 2023, in Sheffield.[14] On 5 January 2023 the North American leg of the tour was announced.[15]

Critical reception

Gloria received generally positive reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 68 out of 100, based on 16 reviews. Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave it 6.0 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus. Maura Johnston of Rolling Stone called Gloria Smith's "deepest album yet" and described it as "a compact, steadily flowing collection of pop songs that showcase Smith's vocal versatility and personal growth" with lyrics about "Smith's experiences as a queer person who was raised Catholic" throughout.[16] Gary Bushell of the Daily Express found the album to be "less gloomy than 2020's Love Goes, beautiful in places, and packed with surprises".[17] Nick Levine of NME wrote that the album "really is the most surprising, satisfying and vital work of [Smith's] career" and at its heart is a "personal exploration of the broader queer experience that recalls George Michael's classic 1996 album Older".

Reviewing the album for The Guardian, Alexis Petridis was critical of the press release's claims of "experimentation", writing that while there are "hints of R&B, trap and disco" amongst the ballads and tracks similar to their "piano-led sound" of previous releases, "there's still something underwhelming about Gloria: the feeling that it's more of the same is more prevalent than it should be". David Smyth of the Evening Standard felt that "Unholy", a "masterpiece of oversexualised nonsense", "sticks out outrageously in the middle of this fourth album" as the rest of the tracks are "rather grey" by comparison. Smyth concluded that it is "a shame the songs, well crafted as they are, don't always match the self belief" Smith's lyrics have. Writing for The Observer, Kitty Empire denoted that the project does not fulfill its potential, as it was not pushed to the levels of Beyoncé's Renaissance, an album that deals with similar themes and sounds, pointing out that "something slinky [...] might have been more apposite on an album dedicated to fun – and liberation from the past" over tracks like "How to Cry", "Gloria" and "Who We Love".[18]

Lindsay Zoladz of The New York Times found that Smith "puts aside ballads for more danceable tracks" and while the album "has moments of boldness", ultimately "its occasional lapses into generics keep it from feeling like a major personal statement".[19] Writing for Pitchfork, Jamieson Cox opined that by this point of Smith's career, "an artist whose writing has long tended toward the bland and impersonal has grown into a vision and identity that can be compromised by mediocre features" like those of Jessie Reyez, with Cox calling "Gimme" and "Perfect" "anodyne at best and grating at worst", and Ed Sheeran, with Cox finding "Who We Love" to be "basically [...] Sheeran's 'Same Love'," with lyrics that lay out "trite scenes".

Emma Madden, reviewing for Metro, gave the album two out of five stars, writing that "sex and queerness do indeed feature in the album, but in a way that feels tacked on out of obligation [...] The references are extremely ham-fisted and obvious". Madden also felt that Gloria feels "slipshod and confused".

Commercial performance

Gloria debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart with 14,155 units,[20] becoming the singer's third non-consecutive album to reach the top, joining In the Lonely Hour (2014) and The Thrill of It All (2017).[21] In Australia, Gloria became the singer's first album to debut atop the ARIA Albums Chart and second number-one album overall.[22]

The album debuted at number seven on the US Billboard 200 with 39,000 album-equivalent units, earning Smith their fourth US top-10 album.[23]

As of February 2023, Gloria has moved over 1.6 million units worldwide.[4]

Track listing

Notes

Personnel

Musicians

Technical

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2023)! scope="col"
Peak
position
Icelandic Albums (Plötutíðindi)[24] 8
Japanese Digital Albums (Oricon)[25] 26
Japanese Hot Albums (Billboard Japan)[26] 52
Lithuanian Albums (AGATA)[27] 7
Polish Albums (ZPAV)[28] 9
US Billboard 2007

Year-end charts

Chart (2023)! scope="col"
Position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[29] 187
French Albums (SNEP)[30] 120

Release history

Region! scope="col"
DateFormatLabel
Various27 January 2023Capitol

Notes and References

  1. News: Jem. Aswad. Sam Smith's 'Gloria' Is a Glorious Creative Rebirth, Ranging From the Sacred to the Profane: Album Review 3. 27 January 2023. Variety. 27 January 2023.
  2. Web site: Sam Smith Announces Upcoming 4th Studio Album 'Gloria' and Says It 'Feels Like a Coming of Age'. People. Irwin. Jack. 17 October 2022. 18 October 2022. 19 October 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221019103904/https://people.com/music/sam-smith-announces-upcoming-fourth-studio-album-gloria-featuring-unholy/. live.
  3. Web site: Aswad . Jem . 17 October 2022 . Sam Smith Announces New Album, 'Gloria': an 'Emotional, Sexual and Spiritual Liberation' . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20221018091016/https://variety.com/2022/music/news/sam-smith-album-gloria-emotional-sexual-spiritual-liberation-1235406051/ . 18 October 2022 . 18 October 2022 . Variety.
  4. Web site: 10 February 2023 . Sam's Club . 4 March 2023 . Hits.
  5. Web site: Sam Smith Sets January Release For New Album, Gloria. Spin. Whitaker. Marisa. 17 October 2022. 18 October 2022. 18 October 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221018223652/https://www.spin.com/2022/10/sam-smith-2023-gloria/. live.
  6. Sam Smith Announces Fourth Album 'Gloria': It 'Feels Like a Coming of Age'. Rolling Stone. Mier. Tomás. 17 October 2022. 18 October 2022. 18 October 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221018072410/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/sam-smith-announces-album-gloria-1234612540/. live.
  7. Web site: Sharon Stone on Her Stunning 'Saturday Night Live' Appearance With Sam Smith: 'Sam Trusted Me'. Variety. Aswad. Jem. 25 January 2023. 2 February 2023.
  8. Web site: Sam Smith announces brand new single 'Love Me More'. NME. Skinner. Tom. 21 April 2022. 18 October 2022. 18 October 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221018072357/https://www.nme.com/en_au/news/music/sam-smith-announces-brand-new-single-love-me-more-3209431. live.
  9. Web site: Sam Smith teams up with Kim Petras on throbbing new single 'Unholy'. NME. Skinner. Tom. 23 September 2022. 19 October 2022. 18 October 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221018131252/https://www.nme.com/en_au/news/music/sam-smith-and-kim-petras-new-single-collaboration-unholy-listen-3315911. live.
  10. Web site: Sam Smith Drops 'Unholy' Collaboration with Kim Petras. American Songwriter. Patton. Alli. 25 September 2022. 19 October 2022. 16 October 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221016074356/https://americansongwriter.com/sam-smith-drops-unholy-collaboration-with-kim-petras/. live.
  11. Sam Smith & Kim Petras' 'Unholy' Hits No. 1 on Billboard Hot 100. Billboard. Trust. Gary. 24 October 2022. 25 October 2022. 24 October 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221024180152/https://www.billboard.com/music/chart-beat/sam-smith-kim-petras-unholy-number-one-hot-100-1235160237/. live.
  12. Web site: Kim Petras on the Global (and Grammy?) Success of Sam Smith Collab 'Unholy,' and Singing With Max Martin. Variety. Wass. Mike. 17 October 2022. 18 October 2022. 18 October 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221018215520/https://variety.com/2022/music/news/kim-petras-unholy-sam-smith-grammys-max-martin-1235406120/. live.
  13. Web site: Sam Smith shares Gloria title track, their 'queer love hymn'. NME. Richards. Will. 21 January 2023. 26 January 2023.
  14. Web site: Sam Smith – Gloria The Tour: Dates, Venues & Ticket Information. Capital FM. 21 October 2022. 30 April 2023.
  15. Sam Smith Announces Dates for 2023 'Gloria' North American Arena Tour. Billboard. Kaufman. Gil. 5 January 2023. 30 April 2023.
  16. Sam Smith's 'Gloria' Is Their Deepest Album Yet. Rolling Stone. Johnston. Maura. Maura Johnston . 24 January 2023. 26 January 2023.
  17. Web site: Sam Smith Gloria review: A glorious album that is full of surprises. Daily Express. Bushell. Gary. 26 January 2023. 27 January 2023.
  18. Web site: Sam Smith: Gloria review – the lovelorn balladeer turns to the dancefloor. The Observer. Empire. Kitty. Kitty Empire. 28 January 2023. 31 January 2023.
  19. News: Sam Smith Seeks Self-Acceptance and Catharsis, and a Sound to Match. The New York Times. Zoladz. Lindsay. 26 January 2023. 30 January 2023. 0362-4331.
  20. Web site: Jones . Alan . Charts analysis: Sam Smith lands third No.1 album with Gloria - Analysis . Music Week . 2023-02-03 . 2023-04-27.
  21. Web site: Sam Smith secures his third Number 1 album with Gloria. Official Charts Company. Smith. Carl. 3 February 2023. 3 February 2023.
  22. Sam Smith's 'Gloria' Roars to No. 1 In Australia. Billboard. Brandle. Lars. 3 February 2023. 3 February 2023.
  23. Tomorrow X Together Lands First No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart. Billboard. Caulfield. Keith. 5 February 2023. 6 February 2023.
  24. Web site: Tónlistinn – Plötur – Vika 07 – 2023. Plötutíðindi. is. The Music - Albums - Week 07 - 2023. 19 February 2023. 15 February 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230215182933/http://plotutidindi.is/tonlistinn/. live.
  25. Web site: https://www.oricon.co.jp/rank/dia/w/2023-02-06/p/3/. ja:週間 デジタルアルバムランキング 2023年02月06日付 (2022年05月09日～2022年05月15日). Weekly Digital Album ranking dated February 6, 2023 (January 23, 2023 – January 29, 2023). Oricon. ja. 1 February 2023.
  26. Web site: Billboard Japan Hot Albums – Week of February 1, 2023. Billboard Japan. ja. 1 February 2023.
  27. Web site: 2023 5-os savaitės klausomiausi (Top 100). AGATA. lt. 3 February 2023. 3 February 2023.
  28. Web site: OLiS – oficjalna lista sprzedaży: Albumy. ZPAV. pl. 9 February 2023. Select week 27.01.2023–02.02.2023..
  29. Web site: Jaaroverzichten 2023. Ultratop. nl. 7 January 2024.
  30. Web site: 2023: La dynamique de la production et de la consommation musicales en France. SNEP. fr. 8 January 2024. 13 January 2024.

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