MUSIC TIM DE LISLE

Sam Smith Gloria

Out now ★★★★★

David Bowie, as so often, was ahead of his time. ‘Got your mother in a whirl,’ he sang on Rebel

Rebel in 1974, ‘she’s not sure if you’re a boy or a girl.’ But even Bowie failed to foresee that, 50 years later, the options would include non-binary. Try fitting that into a singalong.

Sam Smith, who became a star using ‘he/him’ pronouns, switched to ‘they/them’ in 2019. At first the public reacted rather like a puzzled grandparent. Smith’s third album, Love Goes, sold only one-sixth as well as its predecessor. The first single from this fourth album, Love Me More, stalled at No52.

Now, though, Smith’s career is right back on track. It turned out the record company had merely picked the wrong lead single.

The follow-up to Love Me More, Unholy, became a smash hit, even though it was bolder on the gender front. Duetting with Kim Petras, who is a trans woman, Smith not only topped the UK chart but landed a first US No1.

Unholy is an extraordinary record, a frisky freak-out that mixes electro-pop and dancehall, church choirs and Arabian harmonics. Sadly, though, it’s a oneoff: on nearly every other track here, Smith plays much safer.

The singing is soulful, the production polished and occasionally playful, but the songwriting is often pedestrian.

The ballads feel like a bulk order from a ballad factory and Smith becomes the 600th person to record a duet with Ed Sheeran.

Apart from Unholy, the only memorable tune is Love Me More and the only flicker of audacity comes in the title track, which sets 21st Century sentiments to music that could be medieval.

Pop stars used to address their lyrics to their lover. Now they’re just as likely to be talking to their therapist, or their navel.

‘Every day I’m trying not to hate myself,’ Smith sings. ‘But lately it’s not hurting like it did before. Maybe I am learning how to love me more.’ You can move from ‘he’ to ‘they’ and still be stuck with ‘me’.