Sam Smith on New Album Hazel Eyes, Queer Love, and Fame
Singer Sam Smith is redefining their musical and personal trajectory with their fifth studio album, Hazel Eyes, focusing on a deeply personal queer love story and intimate six-city residency tours rather than massive arena spectacles. Moving away from the ostentatious theatricality of past productions, Smith is stripping back their production style while reflecting on fame, shifting fanbases, and finding sanctuary in New York City.
Shedding Theatrical Spectacle for Intimacy on the To Be Free Tour
Logistically and creatively, the current era marks a stark departure from the arena-filling mechanics that defined Smith’s previous concert cycles. Performing under the video call username “Lily of the Valley”—a nod to their birth flower—Smith opened up from Guadalajara, Mexico, during a stop on their low-key residency tour titled To Be Free. Instead of navigating exhausting, jet-lagged global itineraries across sprawling venues, the current tour limits stops to smaller rooms across just six cities.
The staging reflects a deliberate rejection of excess. Reflecting on past performances, Smith noted the contrast with earlier tours, explaining that being on stage previously involved “flailing around on a massive gold bum and had, like, seven costume changes.” The motivation behind the scaled-back approach is a direct craving to look at people again and forge genuine emotional connections with audiences.
Subverting Singer-Songwriter Roots to Tell a Queer Love Story
Musically, Hazel Eyes anchors itself in romantic storytelling, subverting the foundational singer-songwriter style that first brought Smith global prominence with their 2014 debut album, In the Lonely Hour. The new record examines the nuances of queer romance, following years of intense public scrutiny.
Fame, however, has carried a persistent, nasty undercurrent. Smith acknowledged that navigating the public eye has often felt isolating, noting that “it was lonely being a young queer artist” during the initial surges of commercial success. While the audience has evolved significantly over the past decade, Smith observes that the room looks entirely different now than it did during their early release cycle, though a dedicated core of supporters remains.
Finding Sanctuary and Stability in New York City
Amid the pressures of international touring and constant media attention, Smith has found a personal anchor in New York City, where the pace of life and vibrant community provide a sense of sanctuary. This geographic grounding has directly influenced the reflective, grounded tone of Hazel Eyes, which balances past hardships with present stability and partnership.