CHART SUCCESS: Sam Smith

By Geoffrey Rowlands

Sam Smith’s name first appeared in this column last June. The 21-year-old singer/songwriter was mentioned as the featured vocalist on Naughty Boy’s UK chart-topping single, La La La.

Things have moved on during the last few months. Sam has topped the BBC Sound of 2014 poll and won the Critics’ Choice prize at the recent BRIT Awards ceremony. He is also enjoying a first solo number one with his latest single, Money On My Mind.

“I was completely overwhelmed to reach top spot,” he smiled. “I wanted to celebrate my success but didn’t really know what to do.

“Getting a solo chart-topper is so different. I wrote quite a lot of La La La so the song was basically mine as much as Naughty Boy’s. But it was credited as his track with me just being the featured singer. Money On My Mind is all mine and it feels absolutely amazing to be number one.”

Reports claim Sam is the first Critics’ Choice winner to shoot straight to pole position with their debut single. It is also suggested that his song is the fastest-selling debut single by a Critics’ Choice recipient. Neither statement is true because Money On My Mind is not his first release.

Sam’s debut solo single, Lay Me Down, was issued just over a year ago and reached number 46 on the UK chart. He also released a four-track EP last October. This was expanded to seven songs for the US market. Two tracks, Stay With Me and Nirvana, crept into the lower reaches of Britain’s singles chart.

Having also experienced a big hit in 2012 as featured vocalist and co-writer on Disclosure’s Latch, some observers have questioned how Sam could qualify for the BBC award which specifically excludes anyone who has been ‘lead artist’ on a UK top 20 single.

“I think it’s all in the lead artist definition,” Sam suggested. “I can understand how people might believe I’d already become established. But I was credited as a featured artist on the Disclosure and Naughty Boy tracks. No matter how much I may have contributed, I wasn’t listed as the lead artist. My solo stuff didn’t make the top 20 so everything was within the rules.”

His sound now is different from Sam’s earlier work. He believes this musical evolution has been brought about through his collaborations with other artists.

“Songs like Lay Me Down and Nirvana had a more acoustic feel than the stuff I’m working on now. Creating those kind of songs was my original intention. But the collaborations exposed me to all types of music. My outlook was broadened considerably and I now see no reason to limit my writing and recording to any particular style.”

Sam has a trained voice having worked as a teenager with the Youth Music Theatre UK and studied under jazz vocalist/pianist Joanna Eden.

“My vocal training gives me the confidence and belief that I can master any kind of popular song. You can hear this variety in the songs on my debut album, In The Lonely Hour, which is released in May.

“The lyrical subject matter isn’t so varied. The overall theme is sadness because that’s how I felt when I wrote most of the songs. But I could hardly be happier at the moment getting to number one. If I could write every track for my next album now, all the songs would be ecstatically happy.”

 

Fuel

The latest incarnation of American rockers Fuel release their fifth studio album next week. Puppet Strings is the band’s first studio album since 2003’s Natural Selection to feature original vocalist Brett Scallions. Indeed, Brett is the only original member still with Fuel.

“I think we’ve had three times as many former members as current members,” Brett laughed. “We’ve kept the name and band history in the same sense as sports teams who move from one city to another. It keeps the line intact even though I fully appreciate there is really only one original Fuel.

“The new line-up and songs in no way intends to replace or diminish what was created by the original and other former members. It is simply to give fans a live destination, some new material which they will hopefully enjoy and a Fuel band for a new generation to discover.”

Yeah!, the lead single from Puppet Strings, is posted at www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFNNEPOfmDs. Latest single, Soul To Preach To, can be heard at www.youtube.com/watch?v=ym7IAmwv-vo

All four of their previous studio albums, plus two greatest hits LPs, are available to hear at (no www.) myspace.com/fuel/music/albums. Also posted here are albums by two more bands with the same name, one from Denmark and the other from Spain.

 

My Chemical Romance

My Chemical Romance release their last album, May Death Never Stop You: The Greatest Hits 2001-2013, on March 24. It is a career-spanning collection featuring 18 of the band’s most popular songs plus one previously unreleased track.

The latter is Fake Your Death, the final song recorded by My Chemical Romance before their break up last year. It has been released as the band’s latest single.

The official video is available to view at www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiJzCahaN8w. Links to many more My Chemical Romance videos and full albums can also be found on this webpage.

 

The Baseball Project

Anyone who enjoys America’s national pastime might like to check out The Baseball Project. Not a movement to encourage participation in the game but rather a supergroup who create songs based upon the sport they love.

The band’s genesis was in 2007 when Steve Wynn and Scott McCaughey were talking baseball over dinner. The concept of actually writing songs around the game was developed at the pre-Hall of Fame induction party for REM. This saw REM’s Peter Buck join the line-up which was completed by drummer Linda Pitmon, Steve’s wife.

Now augmented by another REM alumnus, Mike Mills, The Baseball Project’s new album, 3rd, will be released on March 25. Previous LPs, Vol 1: Frozen Ropes and Dying Quails and Vol 2: High and Inside, are posted in the music section at (no www.) thebaseballproject.net/.

Another collection of songs, The Broadside Ballads, can be heard at (no www.) thebaseballproject.bandcamp.com/album/broadside-ballads.

 

Twelve Foot Ninja

Fans of gore-filled horror films should enjoy the new video from Australian rock quintet Twelve Foot Ninja. Accompanying their new single, Ain’t That A Bitch, the video depicts the destruction of an Internet troll. What eventually happens to him should be appreciated by horror movie lovers but is definitely not for the faint-hearted.

The video was financed by Twelve Foot Ninja’s fans who pledged $52,600. This sum set a new mark for the most money raised through crowdfunding to make a single music video. Anyone who would like to view the finished product can find it at www.youtube.com/watch?v=2R_knwTUVbE. Remember, you have been warned about the content.

Links to several more Twelve Foot Ninja videos are also posted on the webpage. For those who would prefer to just hear Ain’t That A Bitch, one of the links is to a lyric video at www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjkWZ_QL0zI.

More songs from the band can be heard at (no www.) soundcloud.com/twelvefootninja.