Sam Smith research

1. Sophie Moody. AS Media. Research task

2. Sam 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.)

7. Capitol 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

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