Sam Smith on Their New Album, “Hazel Eyes”
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Who is Sam Smith and what milestones defined their early career?
The New Yorker Radio Hour is a co-production of WNYC and The New Yorker.
This is the New Yorker Radio Hour. I'm David Remnick. Sam Smith burst very big onto the music scene in twenty fourteen with a debut album called In the Lonely Hour. It was one of the best selling albums of the decade. And it won Grammys for Record of the Year and Song of the Year for Stay With Me.
Oh won't you stay with me?
Sam Smith's early hits were ballads of heartbreak and unrequited love. And so their new album marks something of a change. It's an album of love songs, in this case, very much required.
And like all good things you cut me by surprise.
The album is called Hazel Eyes, and Sam Smith sat down with our producer, Jeffrey Masters. So taking
back, I know that you grew up singing around the house and with your parents, but what was like the moment when you realized that it wasn't just your parents like being nice, that you that you actually had a good voice?
I Tink. Uh I went to the there's this uh holiday camp called Haven Holidays in the UK and it's like affordable holidays where you go and stay in caravans. Okay. In like a caravan park. And I went with my friend Beth. Um my best friend Beth, I came out to her when I was 10, but she was also the person who kind of forced me to sing because she was a singer herself. She loves singing. And there was a talent show for children at this holiday camp.
How old were you?
Uh me and her must have been like nine or ten. Okay. And she was singing and if you won the talent competition, you won loads of tokens so you can go get loads of sweets from the store, like free sweets and toys. And um me and her stood up together and we sang Heroes by Mariah Carey. And I just remember being with her and just seeing the whole room kind of erupt afterwards with me and her singing. And then I went and in another holiday camp a year later, I went and sang the same song alone. And I won an award for it in this holiday camp and I and just started to basically just sing to different rooms, different people. And just the response I was getting was crazy.
Wow.
Yeah. It was a good time, but also Alwa always stressful for me. I I just I've always been freaked out by my voice. It's like it's a freaky thing. It's like I I I don't I don't feel the same way that people feel when they hear it. And I don't hear when I hear myself back, I'm very critical. So um it's always you know, I always I'm very hard on myself as a singer. So when I I come on stage think I've done a bad job and people like that was the best you've ever sounded and I'm But but inverse. But
in
recordings though,
you
you
recognize y
the
s how you sound, right?
I have uh uh now, but it took me I I first recorded myself when I was uh thirteen and I my first recording ever did was me singing When You Believe uh by Whitney Houston Rye Carey and I sang every single part by myself and I went in the booth after recording it and they like comped the vocal and I sat down and I heard myself sing and I burst into tears because I thought it was the worst thing ever and I was like in my head I sound so much better than that. And and then what came after that was many, many years of me having this dysphoria with my voice and trying to hear the goodness.
How did Sam Smith first discover their voice and love for singing?
I I also was wondering, you said that when you were growing up, and particularly in high school, you would wear makeup and and dresses and and traditionally feminine clothing. And yet on your first album when you you know f were first introduced to the public, you were not dressing feminine. Was that something you intentionally toned down?
No, it wasn't it wasn't for me an intentional thing. I think now I look back on it, um I was I moved to London when I was eighteen years old and I I've spoken on this before, but I I had a a a homophobic attack happen to me when I was at eighteen and it kind of triggered me to start wearing less makeup when I was walking around the streets and and stuff, because I used to be wear so much. And as I started to wear less makeup, I started suddenly people started to notice my singing more when I was trying to sing.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
Who is Sam Smith and what milestones defined their early career?
0:02–3:48
2
How did Sam Smith first discover their voice and love for singing?
3:48–8:09
3
What inspired the writing process behind the new album “Hazel Eyes”?
8:09–11:05
4
How have gender expression and fashion influenced Sam Smith’s public image?
11:05–14:09
5
Why does “Hazel Eyes” focus on reciprocated love instead of heartbreak?
14:09–18:13
6
What vocal techniques and experiments does Sam Smith use on the new record?
18:13–22:18
7
How did the success of “Unholy” affect Sam Smith’s creative freedom?
22:18–25:54
8
What projects and musical directions is Sam Smith planning after “Hazel Eyes”?
25:54–28:57