Gloria has been described by Sam Smith as “sexy, raunchy, honest” – and it is. What’s more, it adds some fine, unexpected twists to the singer’s established template.

Sam may be armed with a voice that could launch a few hundred ships, but the London singer-songwriter’s follow-up to 2020’s Love Goes aims big by adding cameos from exciting women in multiple genres plus Ed Sheeran.

We’ve already heard ‘Love Me More’ and the brazenly seductive lead single and No. 1 hit, ‘Unholy’. There’s more pop magic to be found here. Third single ‘Gimme’ features Jamaican reggae star Koffee and Canadian R&B singer-songwriter, Jessie Reyez. It’s down-tempo, catchy and sensual, showing a new side to Sam.

In contrast, ‘How To Cry’ reveals Sam’s emotion-driven self, with simple acoustic guitar and incredible vocals; meanwhile ‘I’m Not Here To Make Friends’ starts with warm strings, slick pop production and RuPaul’s declaration “If you can’t love yourself, how the hell are you gonna love somebody else?” At the core, Smith is putting pure freedom on tape.

We’re not sure we can easily forgive the cheddar embedded in the final track, the Ed Sheeran collaboration ‘Who We Love’ – but no matter. Gloria is first-class pop music with soul. Watch this one eat up the charts.

7/10

Read our flip-cover story interview with Sam Smith in the current issue of Hot Press – out now: