Sam Smith, Unholy | Track Review 🎵

Decorated pop musician Sam Smith taps Kim Petras for “Unholy,” a single that’s totally different from everything else they’ve released.

“Mummy don’t know daddy’s getting hot / At the body shop / Doing something unholy.” Gah-day-um! 🎵 “Unholy”, follows 🎵 “Love Me More” as the second single of 2022 by 🏆 Academy- and Grammy-award-winning, nonbinary singer/songwriter, 🎙 Sam Smith.  From the first note, it is clear that Smith is changing up their sound and evolving for the forthcoming, fourth studio album.  Smith is assisted by German pop singer, 🎙 Kim Petras, who fits the unholy vibe perfectly.

“Unholy” commences unexpectedly with big a cappella vocals by Smith (with vocal effects, mind you).  Unknowingly, upon first listen, the intro is the eventual chorus of the record.  Ultimately, that chorus (excerpted at the top) ends up being a surefire vibe that you can’t get unstuck. Besides the epic intro and alluring chorus, “Unholy” features incredibly sleek production work courtesy of Smith, 🎛 Ilya, 🎛 Cirkut, 🎛 Blake Slatkin, 🎛 Omer Fedi, 🎛 Jimmy Napes. My, what a team! Although the chorus does a fabulous job of summing up the sus happenings, the verses by Smith and Petras superbly fill in the blanks.  In the first verse, Smith sings, “Dirty, dirty boy / you know everyone is talkin’ on the scene / I hear them whisperin’ bout the places that you’ve been / And how you don’t know how to keep your business clean.” Oh, snap! As for Petras,  in playful and sassy fashion, she asserts, “You gon’ need to bag it up ‘cause I’m spendin’ on Rodeo (Woo) / You can watch me back it up, I’ll be gone in the A.M.” And again, I say, Gah-day-um!

Final Thoughts 💭

To reiterate, 🎵 “Unholy” finds Sam Smith switching up their sound – dropping something that’s totally different compared to past music.  In this case, the risk pays off.  “Unholy” is short but ultimately sweet. The collaboration between Smith and Petras works out incredibly well.  “Unholy” is nothing short of a vibe.

🎙 Sam Smith (Ft. 🎙 Kim Petras) • 🎵 “Unholy” • 🏷 Capitol • 🗓 9.22.22

[📷: Brent Faulkner, Capitol, The Musical Hype, OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay]