A Hotel Books song called ‘Celebration’ has to be dripping with irony, right? Well, not this time. Cam Smith, the mastermind behind Hotel Books, is back with new album ‘Equivalency’ on October 27 and to catch everyone off-guard he’s released an up-beat single to get us ready for it. “I hope you’re happy mom, I wrote a happy song, now let’s hope that the world holds their remarks,” Smith proclaims, presenting a new direction while cannily setting an early challenge to the anticipated wave of internet bickering that will inevitably follow.

The Hotel Books project has been steadily expanding from its spoken-word/musical poetry roots and ‘Celebration’ continues to add new elements, as well as keeping momentum with the full-band sound that previous record ‘Run Wild, Stay Alive’ built out. As well as positivity, ‘Celebration’ also gives us a large dose of Smith’s singing voice. His sung vocals still carry as much feeling and character as his spoken word, making it a refreshing new texture that I’m looking forward to hearing more of.

“We sound nothing like we did at the start,” says Smith and thought that might be true, he’s still able to captivate an audience in a unique and interesting way.