I was always happy to hear “Stay With Me” on the radio back in 2014, but never kept up with Sam Smith’s career after that. I probably heard hits, but they didn’t connect the way the first one did. Then I saw them on Saturday Night Live, and I was kind of spellbound.

The way Smith uses their voice mixing in with a choir of other voices, or in contrast to a single guest artist such as Kim Petras, is quite intoxicating. No doubt Smith’s vocal chops are absurd – when they duet with Ed Sheeran here on one song, they make Sheeran, no slouch himself, sound a little thin. And on the title track, the moment when Smith’s voice soars above the superb church choir is among the most breathtaking I’ve heard in a while.

The songs alternate between determinations of self-esteem and cries for love and/or sex. They are pretty straightforward, and the beauty, at all times, comes entirely from the voices.