Sam Smith will release their fifth studio album, Hazel Eyes, on August 21, accompanied by the arrival of the new single My Guy, the first major preview of a record three years in the making.
by Paul Cashmere
Sam Smith has confirmed details of their fifth studio album, Hazel Eyes, due on August 21 through Capitol Records UK, while simultaneously unveiling the album’s latest single, My Guy. The announcement marks Smith’s first full studio album since 2023’s Gloria and follows a series of intimate live performances that have introduced audiences to material from the forthcoming record.
The release of Hazel Eyes represents a notable new chapter in Smith’s career. While the singer first emerged through chart-driven pop and soul recordings, the new album appears to broaden that palette, drawing on influences ranging from British folk and baroque pop to country and contemporary R&B. The project was developed over more than three years and was largely written and recorded in New York, the city Smith now calls home.
The album’s lead focus track, My Guy, serves as a personal reflection on love and place. Smith described the song as one they had been waiting years to create.
“This is a song that I feel I have been waiting a lifetime to write and sing,” Smith said.
“Written with beautiful friends on a summer’s day in New York, this one fell out of the sky. In this sometimes cold and distant world, I hope you can feel the love and the closeness of this recording.”
They added that the song was intended to capture “the glow and the warmth of love”.
Hazel Eyes was created alongside longtime collaborator Simon Aldred and features contributions from Canadian singer-songwriter Feist and acclaimed multi-instrumentalist Shahzad Ismaily, whose previous work includes collaborations with Yoko Ono and Damien Rice. Portions of the album were recorded at New York’s renowned Electric Lady Studios.
Several songs have already been previewed during Smith’s ongoing To Be Free residency performances. The residency launched at Brooklyn’s Warsaw venue before continuing to San Francisco’s recently restored Castro Theatre. Those concerts combined catalogue favourites with unreleased material and featured guest appearances from artists including Hozier, Ed Sheeran, Brandi Carlile, Kim Petras, SIENNA SPIRO and Feist.
Among the new songs introduced live were My Guy, Moondance, which features Feist, and Constant Companion, a country-influenced track examining the complexities of long-term relationships. The performances have offered audiences an early indication of the album’s thematic direction, with emotional vulnerability and personal reflection emerging as central elements.
Smith said the project allowed them to become more deeply involved in every stage of the creative process.
“This album is an incredibly special record to me,” Smith said. “I have been writing it for over three years with a very small group of beautiful, dear friends of mine. This album is very personal, and I feel I have deepened myself as an artist through the making of it, through being a producer on the record, to walking alongside this record from the start to the finish and pushing myself at every single turn.”
The album arrives after one of the most successful recording careers of the past decade. Since breaking through with Disclosure’s Latch in 2012 and Naughty Boy’s La La La in 2013, Smith has become one of Britain’s most commercially successful artists. Their debut album, In The Lonely Hour, established them as a global star, while subsequent releases The Thrill Of It All, Love Goes and Gloria expanded their international audience.
Career highlights have included an Academy Award and Golden Globe for the James Bond theme Writing’s On The Wall, multiple Grammy Awards and the global success of Unholy with Kim Petras, which became Smith’s first US Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper.
The forthcoming release also arrives amid a period of increased live activity. Smith recently performed My Guy at Japan’s inaugural MAJ Awards and appeared on BBC Two’s Later… With Jools Holland. This week they are also scheduled to perform at the Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center in New York as part of Pride celebrations, linking the new music to one of the most historically significant locations in LGBTQ+ history.
With Hazel Eyes now scheduled for release in August and additional live dates expected to be announced, Smith is positioning the album as both a personal statement and the next major phase of an already distinguished career.
Hazel Eyes Tracklisting
Everlasting Love
Hazel Eyes
Moondance (feat. Feist)
My Guy
When He’s Gone
Thief
Love Is A Stillness
Sugar Rush
Oh Mother (feat. The TwoCity Chorus)
Constant Companion
Hold On
To Be Free
Stay updated with your free Noise11.com daily music news email alert. Subscribe to Noise11 Music News here
Be the first to see NOISE11.com’s newest interviews and special features on YouTube. See things first-Subscribe to Noise11 on YouTube
Follow Noise11.com on social media:
Facebook – Comment on the news of the day
Bluesky
Instagram
X (Twitter)
