In the Lonely Hour

In the Lonely Hour
Studio album by Sam Smith
Released	26 May 2014
Recorded	2012–13
Genre	Pop soul R&B
Length	32:47
Label	Capitol Method
Producer	Jimmy Napes Steve Fitzmaurice Komi Naughty Boy Two Inch Punch Eg White Fraser T Smith
Sam Smith chronology
Nirvana (2013) In the Lonely Hour (2014)
Singles from In the Lonely Hour
"Lay Me Down" Released: 15 February 2013 "Money on My Mind" Released: 27 December 2013 "Stay with Me" Released: 14 April 2014 "I'm Not the Only One" Released: 31 August 2014 "Like I Can" Released: 7 December 2014 "Lay Me Down (re-release)" Released: 22 February 2015

In the Lonely Hour is the debut studio album by English recording artist Sam Smith. It was released in the United Kingdom on 28 May 2014 via Capitol Records and Method Records. In the United States, it was released on 17 June 2014. The album includes the hit singles "Money on My Mind" and "Stay with Me", both of which were number one in the UK; the latter becoming a hit worldwide, peaking in the top ten in over 20 countries, including reaching number two in the US. The album's third hit single, "I'm Not the Only One", reached number three in the UK and number five in the US. A deluxe edition of the album contains five bonus tracks, including a solo acoustic version of Disclosure's single "Latch" and Naughty Boy's number-one single "La La La", on both of which Smith provided guest vocals.

Upon its release, In the Lonely Hour received generally positive reviews from music critics, who highly praised Smith's vocal ability but criticised the music for being too conventional. The album was a commercial success worldwide, peaking at number one in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, Sweden and the United Kingdom, and number two in Canada, Denmark, Norway and the United States. At the 57th Grammy Awards, it was nominated for Album of the Year and won Best Pop Vocal Album. It was the second best-selling album of 2014 in the UK, and the third best-selling in the US.

Background

It was announced on 16 December 2013 that Smith's debut studio album would be released on 26 May 2014 through Capitol Records.^[1] On 7 January 2014, Smith unveiled the artwork and tracklisting for the album. The standard edition of the album contains ten tracks, including the singles "Lay Me Down" and "Money on My Mind".^[2]

In an interview with Digital Spy, Smith described the overarching theme of his album as "sad". Talking about the name of the album he said: "People are saying, 'Oh but it's too sad', but that's what it's about. I was sad, heartbroken, and I wrote about being sad. Hopefully I'll be happier soon and I'll write about that."^[3] Smith also said in an interview with The Line of Best Fit that the most personal song in this album is "Good Thing".^[4]

In another interview with Digital Spy, when asked to describe the album, he said: "My debut album is just a diary from a lonely 21-year-old. That's what it is. It was my way of talking about the only real issue in my life. I don't have that many sad things going on in my life and it was the only thing that was really affecting me last year: I fell in love with someone who didn't love me back, and it made me get into this head space of, 'Will I find a man to love? When will I find love?' This album is my 'fuck off' to everyone and basically say, 'No, I have been in love with a man and, if anything, it was much more painful than your version', because I'm not getting what I want with a man and it's so close I can almost taste him. So, it's my way of defining what is love, and how unrequited love is just as painful, just as powerful, as what we call 'normal' love."^[5]

Singles

"Lay Me Down" was released as the lead single from the album on 15 February 2013. In January 2014, the song entered the UK Singles Chart at number 134 after Smith won the BBC Sound of 2014.

"Money on My Mind" was released as the album's second official single. It officially impacted radio stations in Italy on December 27, 2013. It was also later officially released in the UK on 12 February 2014 and in Germany on 16 February 2014. The song has peaked to number 1 on the UK Singles Chart and number 4 on the Irish Singles Chart. The song has also charted in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands. A music video for the song was first released onto YouTube on 12 January 2014.^[6] The song has sold in excess of 600,000 copies in the UK alone.

"Stay with Me" was released as the third single. It officially impacted Adult Contemporary radio in the United States on 14 April 2014. It was made available for purchase in the UK as a digital download on 18 May 2014. It debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart. The song is Smiths most internationally successful, peaking at number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 as well as reaching the top-five in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, South Africa, Spain and Sweden. As of March 2015, the song has sold 3.5 million copies in the US, 700,000 copies in the UK, 300,000 copies in Australia, 400,000 copies in Canada and 200,000 copies in both Germany and Sweden.

"I'm Not the Only One" was the album's fourth single, released on 31 August 2014. It peaked at number three in the United Kingdom and number five in the United States, giving Smith his third top ten hit. It has since gone onto sell in excess of 2,000,000 copies in the US and 600,000 copies in the UK. The song was also successful in Australasia and Europe, peaking within the top-twenty of most charts.

"Like I Can" was released as the album's fifth single on 5 December 2014.^[7] It became Smith's fourth consecutive top-ten hit as a lead artist in the UK by reaching number nine on the UK Singles Chart. It also peaked within the top-twenty in Australia and New Zealand.

A re-release of "Lay Me Down" was released as the sixth single from the album on 22 February 2015.

Other songs

A live version of album track "I've Told You Now", performed at St Pancras Old Church, was made available for free download as part of an Amazon.com promotion on 27 December 2013. "Make It to Me", co-written by Howard of Disclosure and Jimmy Napes, was made available for free download as part of an iTunes Store promotion on 13 January 2014. The song is featured on the deluxe version of the album. Another re-recorded version of "Lay Me Down" was released on 9 March 2015 in the UK. This version features American recording artist John Legend and was released in aid of Comic Relief.^[8]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	62/100[9]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[10]
The A.V. Club	B–[11]
Consequence of Sound	C+[12]
Fact	[13]
The Guardian	[14]
New York Daily News	[15]
Pitchfork Media	5.5/10[16]
Rolling Stone	[17]
Slant Magazine	[18]
Sputnikmusic	2.9/5[19]

Upon its release, In the Lonely Hour received generally positive reviews from music critics. At the review aggregator Metacritic the album currently holds a score of 62 based on 24 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[20] Harriet Gibsone of The Guardian gave the album a mixed review stating, "Last year, Sam Smith told the Observer he wanted to write an album for those who have never been in love. Having never "physically experienced" it himself, he was keen to give voice to the dejected. While his debut certainly wallows in sadness, he forgets that true misery is more than just rhyming couplets about pain and rain – it's an angry, unstable emotion, too. Where this LP fails is in its safeness: Smith has a gorgeous, expressive voice, but there's not enough rawness to "do an Adele", nor enough eeriness to follow Frank Ocean. The Brits Critics' Choice and BBC Sound of 2014 winner masters a modern sound – drawing from Ed Sheeran's intonation on Leave Your Lover, Emeli Sandé's gospel reverence during Stay with Me and often the Jessie J school of over-phrasing ("serr-tun"), and while he has talent and likability, it's a shame this album is not a little freakier, a little riskier – a little lonelier."^[14]

Lewis Corner of Digital Spy gave the album a positive review stating, "In the Lonely Hour rarely veers from polished piano, burnished strings and wispy guitars - and compared to the crowd-leading electronics of Disclosure's 'Latch' and earworm hooks of Naughty Boy's 'La La La', some may consider it a regression for Smith. While production does feel relatively safe throughout, it's in Sam's lyrics of confession, pain and longing where the album is unguarded and, in return, empowered. It's a debut that dwells on the quieter moments in life, and by doing so, makes the biggest impact."^[21]

Accolades

Publication	Rank	List
Billboard	3	The 10 Best Albums of 2014[22]
Digital Spy	1	Top Albums of 2014[23]
The Daily Telegraph	33	Best 50 Albums of 2014[24]
Time Out	30	The 30 Best Albums of 2014[25]
The Huffington Post	N/A	The 23 Best Albums of 2014[26]

Commercial performance

On 28 May 2014, In the Lonely Hour debuted at number one on The Official Chart Update in the United Kingdom, outselling Coldplay's album Ghost Stories (which was entering its second week in the charts) by nearly 20,000 copies.^[27] On 29 May, the album entered the Irish Albums Chart at number two. On 1 June, the album entered the UK Albums Chart at number one, and also peaked at number two in Scotland. Smith has called the album's peaking at number one in the United Kingdom "weird".^[28] In the first five weeks after its release, the album had sold 228,000 copies in the United Kingdom.^[29] On 18 December, it was announced that the album had surpassed the 1 million mark in the UK, having sold around 1,007,000 copies by midnight. It became just the second artist album in the UK to sell over 1 million copies a month after Ed Sheeran reached that plateau with his album x. Smith also becoming the only artist to sell 1 million copies of an album in both the UK and the US in 2014.^[30] It became the second best-selling album of 2014 in the UK with 1,248,000 sold for the year.^[31] As of April 2015, In the Lonely Hour has sold 1.65 million copies in the UK.^[32]

In the United States, In the Lonely Hour debuted at number two in the 5 July edition of the Billboard 200, beaten to the top spot by Lana Del Rey's Ultraviolence, which sold 182,000 copies that week.^[33] The album held at number two the next week with sales of 67,000, bringing the set's total sales in the United States up to 233,000.^[34] By the year's end, the album had achieved Platinum status and had shifted 1,210,000 copies in the United States, making it the third best-selling album of 2014 with first-week sales of 166,000 copies behind 1989 by Taylor Swift and the Frozen soundtrack.^[35][36][37] As of 6 February 2015, the album had sold 1.34 million in the US.^[38] In addition, Smith sold 2.8 million singles from the album while the album was streamed 87 million times and viewed on UK video streaming sites 48 million times.^[30] In the US, Smith sold 4.4 million singles, with "Stay with Me" alone selling 3.4 million.

In Australia, In the Lonely Hour debuted at number 2, behind Coldplay's Ghost Stories and has remained in the top 20 ever since.^[39] With the Australian leg of his In the Lonely Hour Tour in April 2015, the album rose to peak at number 1 for the week commencing 27 April 2015, in its 48th week.^[40]

Worldwide, In the Lonely Hour sold over 5 million copies.^[41]

Track listing

Standard edition
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Money on My Mind"	Sam Smith Ben Ash	Two Inch Punch	3:12
2.	"Good Thing"	S. Smith Francis White	Eg White	3:21
3.	"Stay with Me"	S. Smith James Napier William Phillips Tom Petty Jeff Lynne	Jimmy Napes Steve Fitzmaurice[a]	2:52
4.	"Leave Your Lover"	S. Smith Simon Aldred	Napes Fitzmaurice	3:08
5.	"I'm Not the Only One"	S. Smith Napier	Napes Fitzmaurice	3:59
6.	"I've Told You Now"	S. Smith White	White Napes Fitzmaurice	3:30
7.	"Like I Can"	S. Smith Matt Prime	Napes Fitzmaurice Mojam[a]	2:47
8.	"Life Support"	S. Smith Ash	Two Inch Punch	2:53
9.	"Not in That Way"	S. Smith Fraser T Smith	Fraser T Smith	2:52
10.	"Lay Me Down"	S. Smith Napier Elvin Smith	Napes Fitzmaurice	4:13

Deluxe edition bonus tracks
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
11.	"Restart"	S. Smith Zane Lowe	Zane Lowe Napes[a]	3:52
12.	"Latch" (acoustic)	S. Smith Guy Lawrence Howard Lawrence Napier	Napes	3:43
13.	"La La La" (Naughty Boy featuring Sam Smith)	S. Smith Shahid Khan Al-Hakam El-Kaubaisy Napier Murray Omer Jonny Coffer Frobisher Mbabazi	Naughty Boy Komi Mojam[b]	3:40
14.	"Make It to Me"	S. Smith H. Lawrence Napier	Napes Fitzmaurice H. Lawrence	2:40

Google Play bonus tracks
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
15.	"In the Lonely Hour" (acoustic)	S. Smith Napier	Napes	2:54
16.	"Nirvana" (acoustic)	S. Smith Napier Harry Craze Hugo Chegwin Anup Paul	Craze & Hoax Jonathan Creek[b]	3:45

Target deluxe edition bonus tracks[42]
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
11.	"Restart"	S. Smith Zane Lowe	Zane Lowe Napes[a]	3:52
12.	"Latch" (acoustic)	S. Smith Guy Lawrence Howard Lawrence Napier	Napes	3:43
13.	"La La La" (Naughty Boy featuring Sam Smith)	S. Smith Shahid Khan Al-Hakam El-Kaubaisy Napier Murray Omer Jonny Coffer Frobisher Mbabazi	Naughty Boy Komi Mojam[b]	3:40
14.	"Reminds Me of You"	S. Smith Joel Little	Little	3:14
15.	"Stay with Me" (featuring Mary J. Blige)	S. Smith Napier Phillips	Napes Rodney Jerkins[a] Fitzmaurice[a]	2:53
16.	"In the Lonely Hour" (acoustic)	S. Smith Napier	Napes	2:52

Japan bonus tracks[43]
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
11.	"Restart"	S. Smith Zane Lowe	Zane Lowe Napes[a]	3:52
12.	"Latch" (acoustic)	S. Smith Guy Lawrence Howard Lawrence Napier	Napes	3:43
13.	"La La La" (Naughty Boy featuring Sam Smith)	S. Smith Shahid Khan Al-Hakam El-Kaubaisy Napier Murray Omer Jonny Coffer Frobisher Mbabazi	Naughty Boy Komi Mojam[b]	3:40
14.	"Make It to Me"	S. Smith H. Lawrence Napier	Napes Fitzmaurice H. Lawrence	2:40
15.	"Reminds Me of You"	S. Smith Joel Little	Little	3:14
16.	"Stay with Me" (Darkchild Version) (featuring Mary J. Blige)	S. Smith Napier Phillips	Napes Rodney Jerkins[a] Fitzmaurice[a]	2:53
17.	"In the Lonely Hour" (acoustic)	S. Smith Napier	Napes	2:52
18.	"Nirvana"	S. Smith Napier Harry Craze Hugo Chegwin Anup Paul	Craze & Hoax Jonathan Creek[b]	3:22
19.	"Safe with Me"	S. Smith Ash	Two Inch Punch	3:04
20.	"Together" (Disclosure, Sam Smith, Nile Rodgers and Jimmy Napes)	Nile Rodgers Napier G. Lawrence H. Lawrence S. Smith	Disclosure Rodgers Napes	2:22

Notes

• ^{^[a]} signifies an additional producer
• ^{^[b]} signifies a co-producer

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2014–15) Peak position Argentinian Albums (CAPIF)[44] 7 Australian Albums (ARIA)[45] 1 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[46] 15 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[47] 5 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[48] 9 Canadian Albums (Billboard)[49] 2 Croatian International Albums (HDU)[50] 5 Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI)[51] 22 Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[52] 2 Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[53] 3 Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[54] 13 French Albums (SNEP)[55] 9 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[56] 17 Irish Albums (IRMA)[57] 1 Italian Albums (FIMI)[58] 20 Japanese Albums (Oricon)[59] 11 Mexican Albums (AMPROFON)[60] 8 New Zealand Albums (Recorded Music NZ)[61] 1 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[62] 2 Polish Albums (ZPAV)[63] 12 Portuguese Albums (AFP)[64] 12 Russian Albums (NFPP)[65] 3 Scottish Albums (OCC)[66] 1 South African Albums (RISA)[67] 1 Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[68] 12 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[69] 1 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[70] 3 UK Albums (OCC)[71] 1 US Billboard 200[72] 2

Year-end charts Chart (2014) Position Australian Albums (ARIA)[73] 6 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[74] 49 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[75] 141 New Zealand Albums (Recorded Music NZ)[76] 4 UK Albums (OCC)[31] 2 US Billboard 200[77] 11

Certifications

Region	Certification	Sales/shipments
Australia (ARIA)[78]	2× Platinum	140,000^
Austria (IFPI Austria)[79]	Gold	7,500x
Brazil (ABPD)[80]	Gold	20,000*
Canada (Music Canada)[81]	2× Platinum	160,000[82]
Colombia (ASINCOL)[83]	Gold	10,000
Denmark (IFPI Denmark)[84]	Platinum	20,000^
Germany (BVMI)[85]	Gold	100,000^
	Mexico (AMPROFON)[86]	Gold	30,000^
Netherlands (NVPI)[87]	Gold	25,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[88]	3× Platinum	45,000^
Poland (ZPAV)[89]	Platinum	20,000*
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[90]	Gold	20,000^
Sweden (GLF)[91]	Platinum	40,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[92]	5× Platinum	1,650,000[32]
United States (RIAA)[93]	Platinum	1,340,000[38]
*sales figures based on certification alone ^shipments figures based on certification alone xunspecified figures based on certification alone

Release history

Region	Date	Format	Label
United Kingdom	26 May 2014[94]	CD LP digital download	Capitol Records Method Records
United States	17 June 2014[95]
China	13 July 2014[96]	CD	Universal Music
Japan	21 January 2015[43]	CD LP digital download

References

Sam Smith Discography Studio albums In the Lonely Hour (2014) Extended plays Nirvana (2013) Singles "Lay Me Down" "Money on My Mind" "Stay with Me" "I'm Not the Only One" "Like I Can" "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" Featured singles "Latch" "La La La" Other songs "Safe with Me" "God Only Knows" "Do They Know It's Christmas?" Related articles Disclosure Naughty Boy Capitol Records