Sam Smith’s 2014 debut In the Lonely House won him flattering Adele comparisons and sold in almost Adeleesque quantities too — even if he did have to settle with the late Tom Petty for accidentally ripping off Stay With Me.
In the three years since, he has battled alcohol, homophobia and Hollywood dieticians to return three and- a-half stone lighter with a raw, hungry look in his eyes.
There’s certainly a new lyrical boldness evident but, alas, Smith still sounds like a wet dishcloth, for all the carefully worded confessions, tasteful old soul arrangements and cute hooks on songs such as One Last Song.
There’s no doubting the sylph-like swoop of his tenor but it’s always up there in the nasal register, tremulous and cloying — a bit like someone breathing too close to your neck.
