Sam Smith appeared on the new episode of The Kelly Clarkson Show and talked about how he switched genres and tone when he released ‘Gloria’ in January. Sam explained the changes in his point of view and how it led to him writing about joy:
“Well, I think my first couple of records were about heartbreaks, and I was a dramatic twenty-year-old, going through heartbreaks and stuff like that. And when I sat down to make this album, the scariest thing to do was to try and write something that was joyful. When I say joyful, I mean it can’t be joyful all the time but like, stepping into a confidence.”
Smith also mentioned that writing ‘heartbreak songs’ was his comfort zone, and now he’s ready to experiment with other emotions. Sam also said that it may put him on the spot once more and shared his thoughts about that possibility:
“Heartbreak was a safe space for me. So I’ve been playing with different emotions: anger, sexiness, joyfulness… It’s really exciting, and I feel like I’m in a dangerous place again. As an artist, I like to feel a bit scared.”
The singer also mentioned that he failed to write upbeat songs when he was feeling down in his own life and emphasized that he’s been feeling better now, especially about getting older:
“I tried to write happy songs when I wasn’t happy, and it didn’t work. I think that I’ve only been able to write some of these emotions down because I’m not going through a heartbreak. I’m feeling good; I like my body, I like my life. I’m turning thirty, and thirty is fabulous, and aging is fabulous. Aging is the best. I’ve always been around amazing people who love getting older, so I’ve always been excited to get older.”
Sam Smith has received backlash from several rockers in the past. Former Oasis frontman Noel Gallagher criticized the prevalence of pop music and Sam Smith during an interview as follows:
“Music has become quite fractured, and chart music is dominated by pop. Pop music is alright if the pop stars are cool. Sadly, the pop stars of today are f*cking idiots. Sam Smith, look at him.”
Another musician who didn’t enjoy seeing Sam’s works was Nugent. In his podcast ‘The Nightly Nuge,’ Ted Nugent speculated that the Grammy Awards are a Satanic cult, and Sam is a part of it because he attended the awards and also he’s a pop singer:
“I’ve been watching this for years; the imagery is pure Satanism. Then there’s after-school Satan clubs, and it’s because pop music is popular. There is evil at levels we have never seen before, and the Grammys are part of it. I could not be more proud that the Grammy cult hates me.”
On September 8, Calvin Harris released his collaboration with Sam Smith named ‘Desire.’ You can check out the song here. Below, you can watch the excerpt from the interview.