“I write my songs with healing in mind”, explained Sam Smith, back with “Gloria”
A brilliant comeback. Three years later Love GoSam Smith returns this Friday with his fourth album, Gloria. A work full of optimism, sexy, in which unhappy love has only a very small place. Released in fall, one of the first extracts, Outrageous, her duet with Kim Petras, went gold in France, Belgium, Spain and Germany, and was certified platinum in the United States, United Kingdom, Italy, Australia… The British artist, now in his thirties , repeated that he “wanted to have fun”, to have fun -like. He chose 20 minutes for his only interview with the French press…
Outrageous was a worldwide hit. Do you feel that this song has such potential?
Doing this song with Kim Petras was pure joy for both of us, we’ve wanted to work together for a long time. We have a lot more in common than one might think because, although I have done ballads like that stay with meI come from house music and dance. Outrageous special for me, i even thought it was one of my best song but i never imagined that it would become a success.
Did this success convince you before the album’s release? Or is he pressuring you?
Also not. I’m just proud and excited to share my music. The only pressure I feel is to challenge myself, not to settle for doing the same thing over and over again.
In this album, you show a new side of yourself, more sensual, sexual…
People forget that I started my career quite young. At 20 years old, I was uncomfortable, especially as a queer, with the idea of showing a sexual side to the crowds that came to see me. It takes time and I want to do well. But I’ve always been authentic myself, it’s just another part of my personality that I show.
In song Love me more, which opens the album, you sing: “Every day I try not to hate myself. It’s getting less and less painful. Maybe I’m learning to love myself more. Is this a way of announcing the tone of this disc?
This is the first song I wrote for this project. I want to say that this is an album about joy – or rather about honesty about joy. This is often a fleeting emotion, a person cannot be happy or be happy all the time. I wanted to show people where I was mentally at that time. What a fun album.
You want to put aside the story of heartbreak to tell things that are more optimistic?
Yes, that is my goal. I write what seems consistent with who I am. When I was working on the album, I wasn’t in a relationship and I felt really good as a single person. I want to express that. There aren’t many heartbreak stories to tell.
How was the Sam Smith song born?
My source of inspiration is always alive. As artists, our mission is to observe the world. I love seeing people around me, telling stories, capturing strong emotions and putting them into songs so that they can help people through adversity. When I write, I always think about the idea of healing, of scarring.
Would it be wrong to say that this album can be understood as a guide through the ups and downs of queer life?
All my albums are queer because I’m queer. But it’s very close to my heart to think of music as a universal language, something that brings people together. These songs are not just for queer people but yes, you could say they come from the queer prism.
In ten years time, you have come out twice…
I came out as gay, I did when I was a kid, at school. It shouldn’t be confused with me coming out in the media. I’m always out. As for non-binary, again, I think the terms that come out are irrelevant, because I’ve always felt non-binary.
In Great Britain, as in the United States or in France, transphobic positions abound in the media space. We’re also seeing conservative movements attack transvestite shows. What does this remind you of?
Even though things seem, at times, to be moving in the right direction, we are also subjected to a lot of hurtful things. Community [LGBTQ+] strong, always was. What I want is for us to keep walking out of the house with our heads held high, learning from each other, sharing stories, being kind and caring. That’s all I wished for.
Return to albums. On Painful distraction, we hear these words: “Having to lie is the saddest and worst thing about being gay. When you have your first bad love experience, you cannot go to your brother or sister to tell them that you are suffering. “Why this quote?
Because this interlude is placed before the song Lose yourself which was inspired by a lesbian friend. He was in a relationship with a woman and he had his first gay heartbreak. I want to write down this devastating feeling that is heartbreak. I was looking for quotes on the internet and came across photos of the first New York Pride Parade [en 1970]. Her voice is that of a journalist talking about a strange life. I found what he said to be very profound and very true.
second Interlude, Dorothy’s distractionrefers to another odd reference: Judy Garland’s character in The Wizard of Oz…
He launched the dance section of the album. That’s what I like to hear in the club, right before the disco hits. We hear the voices of Judy Garland, Divine, RuPaul… I want to bring these incredible icons together in the same movement. I love it !
Believers RuPaul’s Drag Race recognize the famous “If you can’t love yourself [comment pouvez-vous envisager d’aimer quelqu’un d’autre ?] » in the preamble I’m Not Here To Make Friends. Is that the motto you’re trying to adopt?
RuPaul’s lines are great. I look forward to hearing it resonate at every concert on my tour. It’s uplifting. I’m Not Here To Make Friends talk about dating. I’m tired of going to date in front of people who don’t want to have a romantic relationship with me and who come instead to meet me as an artist or be my friend. The day after one of those meetings, I went into the studio and did this song about the frustration I was feeling.
Song Gloria contrast with other titles. It’s the passage with the gospel, the spiritual atmosphere and it’s also what gives the title to the album…
I don’t always do it on purpose, but in my music my voice is very often accompanied by a choir. I was in the choir, younger. I went to a Catholic school. And when it comes to music that comes from my heart and soul, I think that element is coming back. “Gloria” is the first word I heard as a child, at church: Gloria in excelsis Deo [ « Gloire à Dieu »]. Older, going to gay clubs, I hear that song everywhere Gloria by Laura Branigan [la reprise en anglais du tube d’Umberto Tozzi] and he lives with me. The title of the album refers to hymns and nursery rhymes I had written for myself earlier. Gloriait is the spirit that is within each of us, it is the voice of a woman telling us to hold on, that we can do it.
You will be at the concert on May 13 at the Accor Arena, in Paris. What can the public expect?
I worked hard on this tour, more than any of my other projects. My goal is to combine my love of theater with pop music. I wanted to give the public a real show, articulated around the ensemble and not centered on me. I will be surrounded by great artists and musicians. I will be working with La Horde, a French dance group that, among other things, choreographs Outrageous. Therefore, my concert will have a French flavor (smiles).
