Sam Smith’s new song “Unholy” was released on September 22, 2022, featuring Kim Petras. There was a lot of anticipatory promotion for this song, and on TikTok the audio was trending over a month before the song was released. The launch date was actually pushed back two or three times, because Smith and his team continued to make changes to the track. The style of “Unholy” is a completely different vibe compared to many of Smith’s past songs. It was risky move, but in this case, it really paid off. The song was a hit, and fans responded extremely well to the new track. Kim Petras is a really good addition to the song. The transition from Sam’s vocals to hers is smooth, and their voices sound really compliment one another. In an interview, Kim Petras said that she has been a fan of Smith for a while, and she has been wanting to work with him. She said that everyone was very encouraging, and that she felt honored to be apart of the song. Sam Smith also commented that he “has never had so much fun making a record”. Overall, I really enjoyed everything about this song; the vocals, the feature, the vibe, the beat, and how well the lyrics flowed.
But what is it about? “Unholy” talks about an adulterous relationship. The main chorus is “Mummy don’t know daddy’s getting hot, at the body shop, doing something unholy”. It is talking about a husband who is cheating on his wife, but the wife is not aware it yet. During the song, Petras’s feature takes the role of the girl with whom the husband is cheating on his wife. She quips about how she only wants money, and other superficial benefits from the relationship.
The overall message of the song, as I interpreted it, is that the man who cheats does not deserve his faithful loving wife. It talks about how that kind of behavior is ‘unholy’, and that everyone involved should get the justice that they deserve. Again, the song is much different from a lot of the past songs that Sam Smith has released, but I think that everyone collectively agrees that this song was a hit. Sam Smith said that he is looking to do more songs with the same kind of style as “Unholy”, not only because of how big of a hit it was, but because he genuinely enjoyed making it. If you need to spice up your playlist, I highly recommend giving this song a listen. It won’t disappoint!
