Music picks: Baybeats 2020, Niall Horan's live-stream gig, Sam Smith's new album

3 stars

"Put your hands in the air if you sometimes ever get sad like me," sings Sam Smith on So Serious, a track off the English singer's third studio album, Love Goes.

But on a record that invites the listener to dance through the pain of heartbreak, the song is barely a salve for the broken-hearted in the style of someone like Swedish pop-star Robyn, who has arguably perfected the art of sad songs over electropop beats.

Instead, Smith's effort feels a a bit tame.

The songs do not quite have the dancier sounds of pre-album singles How Do You Sleep and Dancing With A Stranger. The only hints that Love Goes has veered towards a more experimental dance record are on tracks like Diamonds and Dance (Til You Love Someone Else).

Instead, the album delivers on the tried-and-tested Sam Smith brand of heart-on-sleeve romantic misery and despair-filled balladry, with gloomy lyrics like "Don't it make you sad, that we'll never be kids again?".

Smith's extraordinary falsetto shines as usual, trading vocal gymnastics with fellow Brit Labrinth on title track, which crescendos into a euphoric audio explosion of strings, horns and beats.

Irish singer-songwriter Niall Horan is playing London's prestigious Royal Albert Hall for a multi-camera live-stream concert, which will benefit his and other touring crews who have been unable to work with full-capacity live events still on hold.

During the hour-long show, Horan and his band will perform tracks off his two hit albums, Flicker (2017) and Heartbreak Weather (2020). It will be broadcast in three different time zones, with the Asia shows kicking off at 5pm Singapore time.

When: Nov 8, 5 to 6pm

Admission: US$20 (S$27.30) via this website.

The 19th edition of the Esplanade's alternative music festival will take on a very different form under safe distancing measures.

Six ticketed concerts will take place at the Esplanade Theatre over three days, featuring the likes of .gif, Riot !n Magenta, Forests, Subsonic Eye, Cockpit and Opposition Party. The audience will be limited to 20 for each gig.

The hour-long programme, priced at $25 each, are part of the Baybeats Backstage Experience. Ticket-holders can go on a 15-minute behind-the-scenes tour of the theatre, after which they will be able to watch one of the concerts live, with audio through headphones. There are two slots a day, at 7.15pm and 9.20pm.

Online viewers can watch these six performances, as well as the other 18 shows featuring acts like rapper Abangsapau and indie rockers Astreal, for free.

When: Nov 6 to 8. Live streams start from 7pm each day

Admission: $25 via this website. Live-streams shows will be broadcast for free via Esplanade Offstage and Facebook

Info: www. esplanade.com/baybeats