Gloria - Sam Smith

Gloria! You can say this while listening to this fantastic, brand-new studio album by Sam Smith. After three years, they released another incredible masterpiece! So so so, what is Gloria about? Well, Gloria talks about Smith in these last years of feeling lost in themselves because of their identity: they had to fight with gender questioning, self-love, and changes, and I think they have done such a fantastic job! When it comes to ourselves, it can be hard to understand who we are, and Sam Smith gave us their story, their path through questions, pain and joys. “Gloria” has the same effect as a comforting hug, a place where you can stay as much as you want: it says "everything is okay, you’re perfect, your flaws are perfect and the world is yours". Every song tore me apart positively because I felt more understood by these songs rather than by people in my entire life. Thank you for making me believe more in myself in this album, Sam. For loving us, actually, because you’re literally saying to everybody you love them. So, let’s talk about the tracks! The album can be divided in different sections based on the topic of the song:

- “Love Me More”, “Perfect”, and “Gloria”: these three tracks are about self-love, self-confidence and knowing we are worth it despite what the world thinks about us. They simply scream: “You got it, sis!”; - “Hurting Interlude”, “Dorothy’s Interlude” and “Who We Love”: I am amazed by the choice of Smith to put these two interludes as well as this song. “Hurting Interlude” and “Dorothy’s Interlude” are basically old recordings about homosexuality, where the first one goes like this: “Having to lie, I feel, is the saddest and the ugliest part of being a homosexual. When you have your first bad love experience, for instance. And you can't go to your brother or sister and say, "I'm hurting"” talking about the seventies’ revolutionary movements of Stonewall, and the second one is about a rainbow, and “believe in gay power”. The meaning is clear, isn’t it? And then the last one, a good track featuring Ed Sheeran: they talk about how beautiful the world is when you can love whoever you want without any judgment, and they are right: I had to wait more than one year before I could hold the hand of my girlfriend without feeling "guilty", and yeah, it is the best feeling in the universe; - “No God”, “Lose You”, “Unholy”, “How To cry”, “Six Shots”, “Gimme”, and “I’m Not Here To Make Friends” are love and revenge songs, about an ending love story, or a huge crush on someone -who are you talking about, dearest Sam?- Every song is a treasure, a little crystal in every lyric, and I’m so happy they have released it with this boost of confidence: we, as a society, are living in an era which puts us under pressure, where appearance and social status are elemental things with rules and stereotypes, but in these songs, they say "you know what? *uck the system!" and I think it is wonderful. Keep going like that, Sam: you’re doing amazing!

Carlotta Nonnis