It would have been understandable if Sam Smith wanted to stay in the pop spotlight a little while longer. Their 2023 hit “Unholy,” a spooky infidelity bop featuring Kim Petras, was camp enough to inspire a period of mass awareness rare for our fractured pop culture landscape. Smith performed it at the Grammys in a provocative ensemble that sparked intense public discourse, cementing the track as their first American No. 1. They could have easily ridden that wave, continuing to produce the mildly salacious, maximally synthetic music that defined their recent era.
Instead, for their fourth studio album, Hazel Eyes, Smith has swerved. This collection of sophisticated, romantic songs taps into jazz, blues, and soul, with production that feels significantly more organic—and ultimately more compelling—than anything they have released in years. While past projects were often polished to an uncanny degree, they sometimes suffered from a lack of cohesive artistry, caught between the demands of the hit factory and the artist’s own creative instincts.
A Unified Vision of Love
This time around, Smith worked primarily with past collaborator Simon Aldred and stepped into the role of co-producer for the first time. The result is an album with a unified sound that feels entirely unbeholden to any commercial quota. It is also Smith’s first project that tells a complete, linear love story rather than a hodgepodge of desire and dissatisfaction. Inspired by their fiancé, designer Christian Cowan, Smith has crafted a narrative of grand love that does not shy away from the inevitable struggles on the road to happiness.
The production on Hazel Eyes is fluid and sensual, sounding as if it exists in a tangible space rather than the vacuum-sealed void of a corporate studio. Opening track “Everlasting Love” finds Smith in lounge-singer mode, purring over acoustic guitar and swooping strings. Meanwhile, “Sugar Rush” offers a doo-wop sensibility that is both lusty and adorable, featuring brass arrangements and percussion that bring a newfound vitality to Smith’s vocal performance.
Soulful Traditions and New Collaborations
Smith’s voice has always been suited to soul music, and they have taken plenty of inspiration in the past from Black musical traditions. Those influences have never been more explicit than on Hazel Eyes. Rather than forcing gospel choirs and R&B inflections into rigid, straight rhythms, Smith loosens up and lets the music swing. On “When He’s Gone,” they channel the frustration of a crumbling relationship through a smoky blues lens, while “Oh Mother” serves as a powerful, revival-style centerpiece featuring the TwoCity Chorus.
There are no massive pop star features this time around, but the appearance of Feist as a co-writer and backing vocalist is a welcome surprise. Her influence is felt throughout the album, particularly on the slinky “Moondance,” which features a gnarled guitar solo and a heady, celestial bridge. While Smith’s overpowering earnestness remains—and may test the patience of some listeners—their growth is most evident on the album’s quietest moment, “Love Is a Stillness.” It is a piano ballad that exudes the calm of a steady relationship, suggesting that by finally ignoring the pressure to chase a hit, Smith has landed on a sound that truly suits them.
