Sam Smith has discussed the back-story of his new single ‘Too Good At Goodbyes’ and teased the release date for his upcoming album.
‘Too Good At Goodbyes’ was released earlier today (September 8) and is taken from the singer’s forthcoming second album, the follow-up to 2014’s ‘In The Lonely Hour‘.
Speaking to Zane Lowe on Beats 1, Smith confirmed that his album will be released “before Christmas” and explained that his comeback song “is about me and about a relationship that I was in.”
“I’m still very, very single,” Smith elaborated. “I think I’m even more single than I was when I released ‘In the Lonely Hour’, so I’m insanely single.”
Discussing his new record, Smith added: “People are gonna see, this one as I’ve said is about me and something that I’ve gone through… What I’ve been through relationship wise the last year has made me a lot stronger and I feel like I’ve learned some lessons from it.”
“This album actually is not all about me,” he went on to say. “There’s about four songs that are about me and the rest are about different things and different people in my life and what they’ve gone through. Different in my opinions on different things. I wanted to welcome people back in and I want it to be about my voice and about the storytelling of something that I’ve gone through.”
Smith also explained how fame has changed his relationship with his family, describing how he has spent the past year “just getting on the same page as my family and friends again”. He said: “My fame and what happens when you become well known really scared me. I became very distant to my family and friends just because our lives weren’t relatable. So, that was really tough for me. When I’m not close to my family I freak out and I’m just not the best person I could be.”
“For it to not be about me for one year was absolutely wonderful,” Smith continued. “I was there to see my god daughter be born, I’ve been at every single birthday for my mom and my dad, sister and my cousins, my best friends. I’m there for down days and their good days. My sister’s graduation, I was there for both of them. It was incredible.”
‘Too Good At Goodbyes’ was written with collaborators Jimmy Napes and Stargate and is the multi-million-selling singer’s first new material since his 2015 James Bond theme song ‘Writing’s On The Wall‘.
With firm details of his second album expected to follow shortly. Smith has also lined up intimate shows in Los Angeles, New York, London and Berlin for September 11, 13, 15 and 18. Venues have not yet been announced.