Sam Smith trades heartbreak for happily-ever-after on Hazel Eyes
This isn't the Sam Smith of Stay With Me or Too Good At Goodbyes, circling the pain of a relationship that has gone wrong
By Callum Wells
Following the club-focused sound of 2023’s Gloria, Sam Smith has gone somewhere much softer on Hazel Eyes.
Their fifth studio album is, above all else, a record about being in love – the excitement of it, the vulnerability that comes with it, and the slightly terrifying realisation that you now have something worth losing.
Smith has described the album as “incredibly romantic”, and that’s difficult to argue with. Written over more than three years and largely shaped in New York, Hazel Eyes traces a relationship from those first nervous steps into something deeper and more complicated.
This isn’t the Sam Smith of Stay With Me or Too Good At Goodbyes
That shift is clear from the opening track, ‘Everlasting Love’, which Smith began writing on the eve of their first date with fiancé Christian Cowan. It’s an appropriately starry-eyed way to begin an album that finds Smith in a surprisingly settled place emotionally. This isn’t the Sam Smith of Stay With Me or Too Good At Goodbyes, circling the pain of a relationship that has gone wrong.
‘My Guy’ is where Smith’s newfound joy really comes to the surface. Written with Feist, Simon Aldred and Shahzad Ismaily, it has a warmth that makes it one of the album’s easiest songs to fall for, with girl-group-style harmonies from Feist and Moses Sumney adding to its throwback charm. Smith has said they wanted to capture “the glow and the warmth of love”, and you can hear exactly what they mean.
‘To Be Free’ was recorded in a single take and became a creative “north star” for the album
Things get heavier on ‘Oh Mother’, which turns betrayal into something almost cinematic. Backed by the 28-member TwoCity Chorus, Smith’s voice builds against crashing piano, guitar and towering harmonies. The song isn’t simply about being hurt; it’s about the instinct to protect someone you love, with Smith describing the choir as embodying “the fury of a mother witnessing her child’s betrayal”.
‘Moondance’ reunites Smith with Feist, while ‘To Be Free’ strips everything back. Released in July 2025, the acoustic track was recorded in a single take and became a creative “north star” for the album, with Smith describing the experience as liberating.
Even the title Hazel Eyes is personal, taken from Cowan’s eye colour. It feels fitting for an album that offers something different. It isn’t about surviving the end of a love story. It’s about being brave enough to enjoy one while it’s happening.
LISTEN TO ‘HAZEL EYES’ HERE.