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In the Lonely Hour

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In the Lonely Hour is the debut studio album by English singer-songwriter Sam Smith. It was released in the United Kingdom on 26 May 2014 via Capitol Records and Method Records. In the United States, it was released on 17 June 2014. The album includes the hit singles "Money on My Mind" and "Stay with Me", both of which were number one in the UK; the latter becoming a hit worldwide, peaking in the top ten in over ten countries, including reaching number two in the US. The album's third hit single, "I'm Not the Only One", reached number three in the UK and number five in the US. A deluxe edition of the album contains five bonus tracks, including a solo acoustic version of Disclosure's single "Latch" and Naughty Boy's number-one single "La La La".

Upon its release, In the Lonely Hour received mixed to positive reviews from music critics, who highly praised Smith's vocal ability but criticised the music for being too conventional. The album was a commercial success worldwide, peaking at number one in the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Sweden, and number two in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, Norway and the United States. For the 57th Grammy Awards, it is nominated for Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album. It was the second best-selling album of 2014 in the UK, and the third best-selling in the US.

Background

It was announced on 16 December 2013 that Smith's debut studio album would be released on 26 May 2014 through Capitol Records. On 7 January 2014 Sam unveiled the artwork and tracklisting for the album. The standard edition of the album contains ten tracks which includes the singles "Lay Me Down" and "Money on My Mind".[1]

In an interview with Digital Spy he describes the overarching theme of his album as "sad". Talking about the name of the album he said: "People are saying, 'Oh but it's too sad', but that's what it's about. I was sad, heartbroken, and I wrote about being sad. Hopefully I'll be happier soon and I'll write about that."[2] Smith also said in an interview with The Line Of Best Fit that the most personal song in this album is "Good Thing".[3]

In another interview with Digital Spy, when asked to describe the album, he said: "My debut album is just a diary from a lonely 21-year-old. That's what it is. It was my way of talking about the only real issue in my life. I don't have that many sad things going on in my life and it was the only thing that was really affecting me last year: 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 a man to love? When will I find love?' This album is my 'f**k off' to everyone and basically say, 'No, I have been in love with a man and, if anything, it was much more painful than your version', because I'm not getting what I want with a man and it's so close I can almost taste him. So, it's my way of defining what is love, and how unrequited love is just as painful, just as powerful, as what we call 'normal' love."[4]

Singles

"Lay Me Down" was released as the lead single from the album on 15 February 2013. In January 2014 the song entered the UK Singles Chart at number 134 after Sam won the BBC Sound of 2014.

"Money on My Mind" was released as the second single on 16 February 2014. The song has peaked to number 1 on the UK Singles Chart and number 4 on the Irish Singles Chart. The song has also charted in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands. A music video for the song was first released onto YouTube on 12 January 2014.[5]

"Stay with Me" was released as the third single on 18 May 2014 and went straight into the number one spot on the UK Singles Chart. Stay with Me also gave Smith his first top-five single in the United States and top ten in other countries.

"I'm Not the Only One" is the album's fourth single it was released on 31 August 2014 and peaked at number three in the United Kingdom and peaked at number five in the United States giving Smith's third top ten. It was also a success in other countries.

"Like I Can" was released as the album's fifth single on 5 December 2014.[6]

A re-recorded version of "Lay Me Down" is set to be released as the album's sixth single.[7] It will be sent to mainstream radio on the United States on 3 February 2015.[8]

Other songs

A live version of album track "I've Told You Now", performed at St Pancras Old Church, was made available for free download as part of an Amazon.com promotion on 27 December 2013. "Make It to Me", co-written by Howard of Disclosure and Jimmy Napes, was made available for free download as part of an iTunes Store promotion on 13 January 2014. The song is featured on the deluxe version of the album.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic62/100[9]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[10]
The A.V. ClubB–[11]
Consequence of SoundC+[12]
Fact[13]
The Guardian[14]
New York Daily News[15]
Pitchfork Media5.5/10[16]
Rolling Stone[17]
Slant Magazine [18]
Sputnikmusic2.9/5[19]

Upon its release, In the Lonely Hour received mixed to positive reviews from music critics. At the review aggregator Metacritic the album currently holds a score of 62 based on 24 critics, indicating "generally positive reviews".[20] Harriet Gibsone of The Guardian gave the album a mixed review stating, "Last year, Sam Smith told the Observer he wanted to write an album for those who have never been in love. Having never "physically experienced" it himself, he was keen to give voice to the dejected. While his debut certainly wallows in sadness, he forgets that true misery is more than just rhyming couplets about pain and rain – it's an angry, unstable emotion, too. Where this LP fails is in its safeness: Smith has a gorgeous, expressive voice, but there's not enough rawness to "do an Adele", nor enough eeriness to follow Frank Ocean. The Brits Critics' Choice and BBC Sound of 2014 winner masters a modern sound – drawing from Ed Sheeran's intonation on Leave Your Lover, Emeli Sandé's gospel reverence during Stay with Me and often the Jessie J school of over-phrasing ("serr-tun"), and while he has talent and likability, it's a shame this album is not a little freakier, a little riskier – a little lonelier."[14]

Lewis Corner of Digital Spy gave the album a positive review stating, "In the Lonely Hour rarely veers from polished piano, burnished strings and wispy guitars - and compared to the crowd-leading electronics of Disclosure's 'Latch' and earworm hooks of Naughty Boy's 'La La La', some may consider it a regression for Smith. While production does feel relatively safe throughout, it's in Sam's lyrics of confession, pain and longing where the album is unguarded and, in return, empowered. It's a debut that dwells on the quieter moments in life, and by doing so, makes the biggest impact."[21]

Accolades

Publication Rank List
Billboard 3 The 10 Best Albums of 2014[22]
Digital Spy 1 Top Albums of 2014[23]
The Daily Telegraph 33 Best 50 Albums of 2014[24]
Time Out 30 The 30 Best Albums of 2014[25]
The Huffington Post N/A The 23 Best Albums of 2014[26]

Commercial performance

On 28 May 2014 the album debuted at number one on The Official Chart Update in the United Kingdom, outselling Coldplay's album Ghost Stories (which was entering its second week in the charts) by nearly 20,000 copies.[27] On 29 May, the album entered the Irish Albums Chart at number 2. On 1 June, the album entered the UK Albums Chart at number 1, the album has also peaked to number 2 in Scotland. Smith has called the album's peaking at #1 in the United Kingdom "weird".[28] In the first five weeks after its release, the album sold 228,000 copies in the United Kingdom.[29] It became the second best-selling album of 2014 in the UK with 1,248,000 sold for the year.[30]

In the United States, In the Lonely Hour debuted at number two with first-week sales of 166,000 copies in the July 5th edition of the Billboard 200 behind Lana Del Rey's Ultraviolence which sold 182,000 copies that week.[31] The album held at number two the next week selling 67,000, bringing the set's total sales in the United States up to 233,000.[32] By the year's end, the album achieved platinum status and had shifted 1,210,000 copies in the United States, making it the third best-selling album of 2014 behind 1989 by Taylor Swift and the Frozen soundtrack.[33][34][35] The following day, 18th December, the album had surpassed the one million mark in the UK, selling around 1,007,000 copies by midnight, becoming just the second artist album in the UK to sell over a million copies a month after Ed Sheeran reached that plateau with his x album, also becoming the only artist to sell one million copies of an album in the U.S. and UK in 2014.[36] In addition, Smith sold 2.8 million singles from the album while the album was streamed 87 million times and viewed on UK video streaming sites 48 million times.[36]

Track listing

Standard edition
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Money on My Mind"
Two Inch Punch3:12
2."Good Thing"
Eg White3:21
3."Stay with Me"
2:52
4."Leave Your Lover"
  • S. Smith
  • Simon Aldred
  • Napes
  • Fitzmaurice
3:08
5."I'm Not the Only One"
  • S. Smith
  • Napier
  • Napes
  • Fitzmaurice
3:59
6."I've Told You Now"
  • S. Smith
  • White
  • White
  • Napes
  • Fitzmaurice
3:30
7."Like I Can"
  • S. Smith
  • Matt Prime
  • Napes
  • Fitzmaurice
  • Mojam[a]
2:47
8."Life Support"
  • S. Smith
  • Ash
Two Inch Punch2:53
9."Not in That Way"
Fraser T Smith2:52
10."Lay Me Down"
  • Napes
  • Fitzmaurice
4:13
Deluxe edition bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
11."Restart"
3:52
12."Latch" (acoustic)
Napes3:43
13."La La La" (Naughty Boy featuring Sam Smith)
  • S. Smith
  • Shahid Khan
  • Al-Hakam El-Kaubaisy
  • Napier
  • Murray
  • Omer
  • Jonny Coffer
  • Frobisher Mbabazi
3:40
14."Make It to Me"
  • S. Smith
  • H. Lawrence
  • Napier
  • Napes
  • Fitzmaurice
  • H. Lawrence
2:40
Google Play bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
15."In the Lonely Hour" (acoustic)S. Smith 2:54
16."Nirvana" (acoustic)
  • S. Smith
  • Napier
  • Harry Craze
  • Hugo Chegwin
  • Anup Paul
  • Craze & Hoax
  • Jonathan Creek[b]
3:45
Target deluxe edition bonus tracks[37]
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
11."Restart"
3:52
12."Latch" (acoustic)
Napes3:43
13."La La La" (Naughty Boy featuring Sam Smith)
  • S. Smith
  • Shahid Khan
  • Al-Hakam El-Kaubaisy
  • Napier
  • Murray
  • Omer
  • Jonny Coffer
  • Frobisher Mbabazi
3:40
14."Reminds Me of You"
  • S. Smith
  • Joel Little
Little3:14
15."Stay with Me" (featuring Mary J. Blige)
  • S. Smith
  • Napier
  • Phillips
2:52
16."In the Lonely Hour" (acoustic)
  • S. Smith
  • Napier
Napes 
Japan bonus tracks[38]
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
11."Restart"
3:52
12."Latch" (acoustic)
Napes3:43
13."La La La" (Naughty Boy featuring Sam Smith)
  • S. Smith
  • Shahid Khan
  • Al-Hakam El-Kaubaisy
  • Napier
  • Murray
  • Omer
  • Jonny Coffer
  • Frobisher Mbabazi
3:40
14."Make It to Me"
  • S. Smith
  • H. Lawrence
  • Napier
  • Napes
  • Fitzmaurice
  • H. Lawrence
2:40
15."Reminds Me of You"
  • S. Smith
  • Joel Little
Little3:14
16."Stay with Me" (featuring Mary J. Blige Darkchild Version)
  • S. Smith
  • Napier
  • Phillips
2:52
17."In the Lonely Hour" (acoustic)
  • S. Smith
  • Napier
Napes 
18."Nirvana"
  • S. Smith
  • Napier
  • Harry Craze
  • Hugo Chegwin
  • Anup Paul
  • Craze & Hoax
  • Jonathan Creek[b]
3:22
19."Safe with Me"
  • S. Smith
  • Ash
Two Inch Punch3:04
20."Together" (Disclosure, Sam Smith, Nile Rodgers & Jimmy Napes)
  • Nile Rodgers
  • Napier
  • G. Lawrence
  • H. Lawrence
  • S. Smith
  • Disclosure
  • Rodgers
  • Napes
2:22
Notes
  • ^[a] signifies an additional producer
  • ^[b] signifies a co-producer

Charts

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[68] Platinum 70,000^
Austria (IFPI Austria)[69] Gold 7,500*
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[70] Gold 20,000*
Canada (Music Canada)[72] 2× Platinum 157,000[71]
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[73] Gold 0^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[74] 2× Platinum 30,000^
Netherlands (NVPI)[75] Gold 0^
Poland (ZPAV)[76] Gold 10,000*
Sweden (GLF)[77] Platinum 40,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[78] 4× Platinum 1,248,000[30]
United States (RIAA)[79] Platinum 1,210,000[33]

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Region Date Format Label
United Kingdom 26 May 2014[80]
United States 17 June 2014[81]
Japan 21 January 2015[38] Universal Music Japan
China 13 July 2014[82] CD Universal Music China

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  9. ^ "In The Lonely Hour Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 19 June 2014.
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