Sophia Michaels
Sam Smith feels the eyes on them on their latest single, “Gimme,” set to appear on their fourth studio album Gloria, out later this month on Jan. 27. “Voyeurs are watching us,” they notice — but instead of shying away, they’re putting on a show.
“I’m a sexual person, I like sex,” Smith shared in a statement. “It’s something I’m teaching myself to not be ashamed of.” They’re joined on the unshrinking single by Toronto singer and songwriter Jessie Reyez and Jamaican reggae musician Koffee.
“Me and Jessie were basically drunk, drinking whisky in Jamaica, two in the morning, running around absolutely wasted, like two girlfriends having a laugh,” Smith remembered of the song’s inception. Like true friends, the trio indulged each other’s most audacious tendencies.
With Reyez backing Smith on the thumping, repetitive chorus, the pair are lost in their own lust. “Come over yah so may mi push yuh body to the limit,” Koffee raps, mirroring the dynamic of her collaborators.
“Gimme” follows “Love Me More” and the Kim Petras-assisted “Unholy” in introducing Gloria, Smith’s first record in nearly three years. “It feels like emotional, sexual, and spiritual liberation,” Smith said in a press release announcing the album. “It was beautiful, with this album, to sing freely again. Oddly, it feels like my first-ever record. And it feels like a coming of age.”
In July, Smith will embark on a 27-date tour in support of the album. Reyez will join the singer on the road for all but one date on the North American leg. The pair, who have another record on the Gloria titled “Perfect,” first collaborated on Calvin Harris’ 2018 single “Promises.”
