Since his voice hit the airwaves in 2012, featuring in Disclosure’s “Latch,” Sam Smith has taken the music industry by storm with his more-than-impressive talent and range.

With the release of his first album three years ago, it seemed that nobody could go anywhere without hearing the “Stay With Me” singer. After winning four Grammys for his album “In The Lonely Hour,” which displayed that his high notes were more than Disclosure’s digital effects, Smith surfaced once again in 2015 with “Writings On The Wall,” the theme for the most recent James Bond film, “Spectre.”

Since then, the artist has been lying low until his most recent flood of single releases. “Way Too Good At Goodbyes” and “Pray” dropped first from his newest album, “The Thrill of It All.”

“Way Too Good At Goodbyes” commences with a typical piano ballad accompanied by the gospel-like choirs that famed Smith. He appears to have stayed in his ways with this opening track. In a Beats 1 interview, Smith explained how only four out of the 14 tracks on the album are about him, “Way Too Good At Goodbyes” being one of them. Smith told Zane Lowe how the song related to him, “[The song is] about a relationship I was in, and it’s basically about getting good at getting dumped. […] I’m still very, very single. I think I’m even more single than I was when I released ‘In the Lonely Hour.’” With lyrics like “But every time you hurt me, the less that I cry / And every time you leave me, the quicker these tears dry,” his words ring true.

“One Last Song” is a crowd pleaser and different sounding from the artist’s usual ballads. With Memphis brass and doo-wop strut, Smith pleasurably mixes it up with a tune that is bound to be on repeat. “When it was good, it was bittersweet, honey / You made me sad ‘til I loved the shade of blue.” Much like “One Last Song,” “Baby, You Make Me Crazy” is another track near-ode and echo to the late and great Amy Winehouse by bringing back the soul she reflected in her music through curt chords and horns. “Baby, you make me crazy / Why’d you have to fill my heart with sorrow?”

“HIM” is one of the most notable songs of “The Thrill Of It All.” It is an anthem for those who have loved in fear. Having kept his sexuality apart from his songwriting, Smith breaks the silence with opening lines “Holy father,” and then confesses “I’m not the boy that you thought you wanted” by telling the story of a young boy confessing his sexuality to his father, his priest and lastly, God. Hence, the capitalization of the title was purposeful and the importance of  the boy he has fallen for comes through: “It is him I love, it is him I love.”

“The Thrill Of It All” is another amazing album released by Smith that takes some warming up to when one is used to the ballads and heartbreak hotel tunes he sported in “The Lonely Hour.” What first appears to sound like a lot of the same old, listeners discover, is anything but with Smith reigning in his vocals and refining them to near perfectly executes tracks like “Midnight Train,” and “No Peace” featuring budding artist, Yebba. Focusing on the others around him, rather than himself, Smith creates a beautiful album that is bound to please.

Photo: SamSmithWorldVEVO via YouTube.com