The Independent Student Newspaper of St. John's University

The Torch

The Independent Student Newspaper of St. John's University

The Torch

The Independent Student Newspaper of St. John's University

The Torch

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Does Sam Smith musically fit the part for 007?

There has been a lot of commentary on Sam Smith’s involvement in “SPECTRE,” the new James Bond movie. “SPECTRE” will be released Nov. 6, 2015 and Smith has already made an impact on his own fan base.

For those of you that may not be “007” fans, I’ve provided an IMDb recap for last year’s movie and a synopsis of what to expect in “SPECTRE.”

In “Skyfall,” Bond’s loyalty to M, the head of the MI6, is questioned. Like Bond in this upcoming movie, his past haunts him, and not only does he deal with their relationship, but also M16’s attack and personal threats towards him. In “SPECTRE,” you should expect to see a new side of Bond, cryptic messages that send him on a quest to uncover and defeat another organization while “battling political forces” to preserve the secret service. There’s supposed to be something awful hidden behind  “SPECTRE.” A lot of situations regarding Bond’s past will uncover whatever is hidden.

For most of us, Adele’s powerful, booming voice is still pictured when thinking about last year’s movie, “Skyfall.” The action packed movie called for her strong vocals. Not only did the instrumental engulf listeners in a soulful vibe, it also fit the mysterious persona of Bond. Many critics preferred the Grammy Award winner to contribute again. Unfortunately for Adele fans, I’m sorry to say that Smith’s Bond­esque song may just be getting the positive reviews it deserves.

Smith’s song, “Writing’s on the Wall,” will be a great addition following the disclosure of Bond’s life. Although Smith won’t have the same dramatic feel as Adele, his beautifully written piece lacks the “pop” producers originally thought it would have for this movie.  They considered having his song reflect our era of music, but rather he pushed for a strong comeback after Adele.  His tremulous vocals create a classier piece. The song seems like a softer, deeper version than the other Bond contributions.

Smith’s successful contribution to the movie also caused him to top charts in the UK. He is the first to beat out Adele and make it to No. 1 in the UK for a song that is in a Bond movie, according to Helen-Ellis Petersen from “The Guardian.” Although Adele won the Bond franchise its first Oscar in the last 47 years, Smith is making history as well. Petersen states that during the, “first week of release… [there were] 70,000 combined sales and streams,” for “Writing’s on the Wall.” Though we may not find this song in his other albums, Smith gained a lot of popularity from it. He took to Instagram and Twitter to say, “I feel like I’m In a dream. To have the honour to do Bond is one thing but to get the first ever NUMBER ONE for a bond song is another thing entirely!! Thank you to all who played and purchased Writings on the Wall this week. I think it’s safe to say now, you like it hahahaha xx.” If you haven’t already, be sure to check out “Writing’s on the Wall.”

 

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