Me too.. It's not often that I really like Adam's taste in regards to other singers and their music.. seems funny,because I love Adam's music
I saw that a few others have chimed in with alternate opinions here throughout the day, and just wanted to add:
Adam's recommendations are always interesting to me, if only to tell me something about what he is listening to, and occasionally, he has introduced me to great music, along the way. It is hit and miss for me, whether I like what he picks, but I am always grateful for his suggestions.
Now this one here, I found immediately interesting. First of all, the Egyptian theme. Clearly up Adam's alley, and I love it too. The juxtaposition of sultry movement with the aggressive sexual language. The more R&B kind of sounds, and then this rather harsh beat. I only understood isolated words, 'lonely', the swearwords, f***, mf, etc, but I saw the video as a yearning for love, when all you get is sex, and decided that this interpretation makes sense to me, and also presumably relatable for Adam, as best we know, and so I decided not even to look any further at the lyrics, did not need any other interpretation.
I thought the sound was interesting, and reminded me of his statement about vague lyrics that are written for the listener, and to be thought provoking with multiple possible interpretations. I thought, this was almost like an example of what he was talking about.
Also wanted to make a more general comment, and unrelated to the comments above, which are just personal observations, just like mine, but I mean this more in general:
I think the banquet of riches, that the internet provides us these days, leads us all to be very selective and choosy, if not all too readily dismissive of everything we see or hear, after just one bite. I know, a lot of music out there is crap, but do we really have to diss everything that comes our way, assuming it does not have Adam's seal stamped on it?
Really? I hear: 'Sam Smith is boring', 'Ed Sheeran is bad', LDR, Ariana Grande, etc... , 'the pop charts are terrible', and so on.....really?
Here is what I am truly seeing right now:
The top40 charts are at the moment the most interesting they have been imo in about the last 20 years, imo. Variety, good music, a deep bench of an interesting mix of different music pushing up. Not many of the standard big label acts, but rather the public deciding what they like, probably via streaming and youtube and other methods, and then radio picks it up.
So many new artists were able to break through recently. Where the hell did Hozier come from? Ireland, I know, but that is not what I mean. I love 'Take me to Church'. Love that song.
Sam Smith happened very quickly and contrary to what I read here, quite organically. I know a lot of people around me who happen to love his music, and I at least like the guy. Don't know why he gets such a bad rap here, maybe because he made it to the top (in single charts) more quickly than Adam, and so there is envy? In interviews, he is funny and comes across as open and a nice guy, he sings, there is no lipsyncing going on. Sure, he is not my pony, in that I like Adam's theatricality and Adam's open vocals more than the bit more squeezed sound that is commonly popular in pop, and that Sam Smith sings with as well, but I think his songs are alright, some even great.
I continue to be amazed at Ed Sheeran. The guy has a lot going against him, he is not handsome, awkward in many ways, I tend to overlook 'wgwg's anyways, and sure would have not picked up on him, by myself. When his obvious popularity made me take a second look, I was astounded. Loved his Brit Awards performance too.
There is the soundtrack from 50 Shades of Gray, two songs from that. And while you won't see me watch that movie or even read those books for that matter, I thought the music was interesting. Clearly, I am not alone, its climbing the charts.
The only typical big label traditional promo pushes that I see are Maroon 5 (sugar) and everything Taylor Swift, which in all fairness, makes me curse too, whenever it comes on the radio, but otherwise, I am loving a lot of stuff at the top.
I think, that Adam is entering an interesting time with his single, and one where I think he will have a chance. Whether he's got something that has mass appeal, I have no idea, maybe Adam is more for a select taste, we will find out. But if there was ever a time, where good music, with healthy label support had a chance to make it to the top, I think it is now. I'm so crossing my fingers and toes for him, and will stream and buy as best I can to support. But I am not going to sit here and say that all other music is crap, just because my pony did not win every race in the past.
That said, I do think that three is the charm and that Adam has got something up his sleeve that will surprise us all and radio will not block him out anymore, not here nor in the UK.