Sam Smith's New Album Hazel Eyes Is Out Now

Sam Smith has a new album out, and the story behind its title is already one of the more memorable press-run moments of the year. Hazel Eyes, the British singer's fifth studio album, dropped in late August via Capitol Records, and Smith is doing the rounds to talk about it, including a stop on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon this week.

The album is a pivot. After 2023's Gloria, which Smith describes as "very intense and naked and gay" and which landed them a third UK number one, Hazel Eyes is softer, warmer, and rooted in a genuine relationship. "It's about my relationship. It's about love," Smith said on the show. "Something soft."

Three years in the making, the project followed Smith from London to a new home base in New York. It was co-produced by Simon Aldred, who has worked with Avicii and Liam Gallagher, and David Odlum, known for his work with Glen Hansard and Josh Ritter. Collaborators on the record include Feist, Shahzad Ismaily, Moose, and the 28-member vocal collective TwoCity Chorus, who appear on the track "Oh Mother" and performed it live with Smith on The Tonight Show.

What Is the Story Behind the Album Title Hazel Eyes

Here is the part that has people talking. Smith admitted on Fallon that the album title was a mistake. They thought hazel eyes meant brown eyes, like the color of a hazelnut. Hazel is actually a distinct, multi-toned eye color mixing brown, green, and amber. Smith only figured this out four months ago, well after the campaign had been shot and the rollout was locked in.

"All my clothes were brown for the whole album campaign," Smith said, laughing. "It's a nightmare. It should've been called Hazelnut Eyes. I'm changing the definition."

It is a funny moment, but it also says something about the intimacy of this record. Smith wrote an entire album around someone's eye color and still made it feel personal, even if the color name was slightly off.

How Sam Smith's Career Stands Heading Into This Era

Smith carries serious weight into this release. They hold five Grammy Awards, two Guinness World Records, more than 64 million equivalent album sales, and over 57 billion career streams. On the Billboard charts, they have four top 10s on the Billboard 200, including a number one with 2017's The Thrill of It All, and seven top 10s on the Hot 100, including a number one with "Unholy," the 2022 collaboration with Kim Petras.

This album cycle also marks a shift in how Smith is approaching live performance. Instead of arenas, they are continuing the To Be Free global residency, an intimate run that kicked off last fall at Brooklyn's Warsaw and has included stops at San Francisco's Castro Theatre, Mexico, and the United Kingdom. "After the last five years, I've changed a lot in the public eye," Smith said. "I wanted a chance to look at people in the eyes and see what my audience had become."

The residency format is a real statement. Choosing smaller, historically significant rooms over stadium-scale production is a deliberate reset, one that matches where the music is landing.

What Hazel Eyes Means for Artists Writing From a Happier Place

Smith's admission that they used to find it hard to write sad songs while actually sad, and now find it easier to access those layers from a place of stability and love, is worth sitting with. "I feel like I can pull more emotion out because I feel safe at home and good," they said.

That is a real creative truth a lot of independent songwriters and producers understand. Emotional range does not always come from chaos. Sometimes it comes from having enough ground under your feet to go deep without drowning.

For artists watching how a legacy act repositions themselves, Hazel Eyes is a case study in scaling down intentionally. Smaller rooms, real instruments, a first co-production credit, collaborators outside the mainstream pop machine. Smith is betting on intimacy over scale, and given where their catalog already sits, they have earned the room to try it.

If you are making music that lives in similar emotional territory, [pass it along here](/pass-the-aux). And keep an eye on [our events page](/events) for any LA-area dates as the To Be Free residency continues its run.