Just hours after naming Sam Smith the winner of the BBC Sound of 2014 poll, BBC Radio 1 drops off his elegant cover of Australian newcomer RY X’s song “Berlin” for the Live Lounge. While the original strays toward the melancholy Bon Iver sound, Sam’s interpretation gives it more of a sweeping ballad feel with his signature falsetto and a building drum-backed crescendo. For a moment, you forget the song even belongs to RY X at all; he just completely owns it. But with Sam Smith’s name on the mouths of nearly every music fan and critic alike, this could bring RY X just the right amount of buzz to gain more of an overseas following.
Watch Sam Smith’s cover of “Berlin” above, and expect his debut album In the Lonely Hour May 26. You can also watch him perform his Nile Rodgers/Disclosure/Jimmy Napes collaboration “Together” below.
