( RollingStone.com ) -- Where do lonely hearts go ? Rolling Stone : Who Is Sam Smith ? A Quick Primer on the U.K . Soul Singer . British singer Sam Smith , 21 , has written a dissertation on the question with his debut LP . Smith -- a gifted blue-eyed-soulster with Barry Gibb 's flexible falsetto and Mark Ronson 's ear for throwback grooves -- got noticed last year for his vocals on house duo Disclosure 's slow jam `` Latch . '' Rolling Stone : Sam Smith comes out , says debut is dedicated to unrequited love . With In the Lonely Hour 's orchestral flourishes and focus on a single unrealized affair , it seems the baby-faced singer is being positioned as a male Adele . But while the album flirts with a few radiant moments , Smith 's endless yearning is n't wrapped in as many irresistible packages . Rolling Stone : Sam Smith dazzles in 'SNL ' debut . He rolls deepest on the gospel-powered `` Stay With Me '' -- a spare track with a simple arrangement that matches its bare plea -- and `` Like I Can , '' a blissful groove that packs a Seventies rock-radio punch . Elsewhere , though he reaches for his upper register with the same eagerness that he grasps for love , his emo hopelessness is a flood drowning everything in sight . The album 's team of producers gives Smith a mostly blank canvas to showcase his vocals , providing room for soaring riffs over fingerpicked guitars on `` Not in That Way '' and `` Leave Your Lover . '' But neither leaves as indelible a mark as Smith 's lost love has left on his heart . See the original story at RollingStone.com . Read about Sam Smith as part of our CNN 10 : Fresh Faces . Copyright © 2011 Rolling Stone .
` ` In the Midnight Hour '' is Smith 's second album . He 's performed with the band U2 . He sings deepest on ` ` Stay With Me ''