SAM SMITHIn the lonely hour

Sophie Moody. AS Media. Research task

SAM SMITH: Brief backgroundSam Frederick Smith is a British singer/songwriter who was born in May 19th 1992 in London, England.

He focuses his music genre on pop, R&B and soul. His fame had come to light in October 2012 through Disclosures single ‘Latch’ which he had made a feature on, however not so long after this he had also placed number one in May 2013 for Naughty boy’s ‘La La La’, giving him his first single.

His first debut album is called: “In the lonely hour” and was released on 26th May 2014 by Capitol records.

“In the Lonely Hour” Album

Sam Smiths’ album ‘in the lonely hour’ was released on the 26th of May 2014. It includes co-written songs from CeeLo Green, Plan B, Adele and Fraser T Smith; and was released by Capitol Records.

The genre of the album is pop and soul and was produced by Jimmy Napes, Steve Fitzmaurice and Fraser T smith. The singles which were included in the debut album are: ‘lay me down’, ‘money on my mind’, ‘stay with me’, and ‘I’m not the only one’.

These songs represent the meaning of his album which is solely about how the lack of love (“unrequited love”) is painful, and how being heartbroken has affected his life as a 21 year old; overall being an emotional CD based on his life.

THE TITLE

The title “In the lonely hour” presents the major feelings Sam Smith was experiencing throughout his many complicated relationships, some of which are interpreted as lonesome and vulnerable.

It overall expresses the meaning of the album using very few words, with the term ‘lonely’ being emphasized a lot.

The title is short and basic which could also represent the idea of him being neglected and left alone as it isn’t crowded with words.

He also refers to ‘the lonely hour’ as a general thing; almost as if it is common to him.

THE IMAGE

The image used for the album is of Sam Smith sitting alone with a grayish black background; this suggests he is surrounded by sad thoughts and negative events which have or is still occurring in his life.

The positioning of him (sitting alone, thinking) implies that he is contemplative and stressed- referring to the loneliness he is in and the problems he is facing.

His clothes are black which may imply he is feeling out of depth and the darkness/negative things are becoming part of him not just emotionally but physically.

FONT TYPE:This text is in Sans serif font type. This is a bold, clear and contemporary looking type of text.

This is used to emphasize the artists name and promote him as he is new to the music industry and would want more people to recognise and remember his name.

The name of the album may be less of a priority to him in this case therefore is regular and not bold, hence less attention is paid to it. (This may try to create the same effect Sam Smith was going through during his ‘loneliness’ as his lover didn’t give him the attention he wanted.)

CAPITOL RECORDSCapitol Records, LLC is a major American record label that is part of the Capitol Music Group and is a wholly owned division of Universal Music Group.

It was founded in 1942 and releases musical material from people such as: Beach Boys, The Beatles, Katy Perry, Coldplay and many other artists.

It involves multiple genres and is located in the Capitol Records building in Los Angeles, California.

In 2012 the recorded music operations of EMI were sold to the Universal Music Group and the world headquarters were established in the Capitol Tower as part of the subsequent reorganization of the Capitol Music Group. Steve Barnett, previously an employee of Columbia Records, was recruited to run the division.[9]

It was the first largest West Coast label and was developed by three people: Buddy DeSylva, Glenn Wallichs and Johnny Mercer.

http://www.capitolrecords.com

REFERENCES

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Smith_%28singer%29

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitol_Records