Written throughout their late twenties, a period during which Smith reckoned publicly for the first time as non-binary, Love Goes is a disco-winged strut through, mostly, heartbreak.
But although the second person is employed liberally, it equally serves as a wrestle with inner turmoil. E.g., Another One has Smith falsetto-ing over spectral melodies about accepting an ex finding love, but reads just as much like pleading for acceptance for themselves. The smooth R’n’B of So Serious is self-doubt and inquiry as interrogating a past relationship.
Taken on the surface though, it’s a galvanising, sometimes vicious, always beautiful breakup record, and should be Smith’s defining work.
Love Goes by Sam Smith is out Oct 30 via Universal.
Keep up with the latest Australian release dates for music.
