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A new documentary on the rise to fame of Sam Smith – the British singer-songwriter with the unforgettable voice who has taken the music world by storm and recorded the new Bond theme song for the upcoming James Bond movie, “SPECTRE.”
Sam Smith is a top tier artist. The man has won numerous Grammys and can woo the audience with his suave voice that has been established as his trademark. His debut album ‘In The Lonely Hour’ propelled him into the audience’s line of view but it wasn’t what propelled him into the music industry. “Sam Smith: Dreams Come True” takes a deep look at the artist’s path to success and the mountains he climbed along the way and really shows the star as he actually is, just a normal gentleman.
The documentary starts off describing Sam’s early years and really promotes the fact that Sam’s parents were very supportive which leads to his strong sense of humility. The prolific artist continued on in his career at the age of twelve. He had his first manager and at the age of 15 had his first vocal coach, the famous Dr. Voice. This portion of the documentary is interesting because it puts forth people that shaped him both mentally and physically. The documentary does a very good job at spending time on the uniqueness of his voice instead of his choice of fashion or his dancing skills like their counterparts do.
There are a lot of individuals in the music industry that say they have the right connections but they seldom have the connections that an artist really needs. This is the first mountain that Sam had to climb. The right manager can get you the right record deal but that right manager is hard to find. Year after year Sam went through sub-par managers who did nothing for his music career and at the age of 18 he ended up being broke and working in a bar to survive. Things only started looking up for Sam when he started writing his own music and that is another positive point for the documentary because it really highlights how he transformed into a more valuable artist to the industry and to himself after that realization. They really capitalize on the fact that Sam is relatable to his fans which is a very big part of being connected to your fans.
The documentary builds on the fact that Sam has a diverse range and that he is able to triumph in different genres and with different lyrical dialogs. The quiet artist is naturally reserved and polite and the documentary brings this into view naturally throughout its allotted time which I felt was a good theatrical trick that directly relates to the subject of the film and raises it above others. A nice piece that was added into the documentary was an audio piece that let you hear the warm-up in a booth between Sam and Dr. Voice which showed how dedicated to perfection the artist is.
Next up is Sam’s influences from Beyonce and Whitney Houston all the way to Robyn and Adele which reveals the reason for his deep, soulful voice. It really dives into where his interests come in to play and how he learned to be honest and brooding which is his signature sound. The documentary covers the similarities between Adele and Sam in that they are both honest and they have both broken down many barriers in the music industry. After reaching that level of success Sam was able to quit his job at the bar and that’s when he met James Napier which really started to propel Sam into the spotlight. This led to him being featured in the song “Latch” which sadly didn’t give him the exposure he deserved but that changed in 2013 with his debut single “Lay Me Down” and his part in Naughty Boy’s “La La La.”
The Naughty Boy song propelled him into the spotlight and he received multiple British awards like The British Critics Choice. The artist then started getting invited to award shows and such and the documentary captured his reaction in the realization that artist’s groups are normal people just like you and I. The documentary then kicks forward to his debut album ‘In The Lonely Hour’ and on his first singles off the record, “Money On My Mind” and “Stay With Me” in an attempt to show that Sam has reached where he wants to be in his music career but the artist’s goals are always changing as he reaches certain points in his career. I liked that the documentary captured the creation of “Stay With Me” and used interviews with the backers as well as Sam himself and really brings it into focus and show why it won multiple Grammys.
The final leg of the documentary really focuses on Sam as a whole. It goes over the importance of his voice, his subject matter and him speaking out on important topics such as not hiding from your sexuality. The documentary really shows that Sam isn’t hiding behind a persona. What you see is what you get. That is really what needed to be captured with this documentary and director Sonia Anderson did an incredible job in doing so. This is certainly a documentary to see.
Available on DVD and VOD in the UK and the US October 13th
