The day before I speak to Myles Smith, the singer posts a message on Instagram., external
He is delaying by a week the release of his debut album, My Mess, My Heart, My Life.
Smith’s reasoning is strikingly honest. After years of touring and “constantly moving”, he says he was close to burning out and wanted to make sure he could fully appreciate the moment he had spent years working towards.
In many ways, the decision reflects the album itself.
Built in part from five years of therapy notes, the album finds Smith revisiting moments of struggle, recovery and, as he puts it, “all the sort of messes in between”.
And it arrives after a whirlwind few years for Smith.
At 28, the Luton born singer-songwriter has become one of Britain’s biggest breakthrough artists in recent years.
Blending folk-infused pop songs with anthemic choruses, he has built a reputation for emotionally open songwriting.
“Take my heart, don’t break it, love me to my bones,” he sings on 2024 hit Stargazing, a plea for connection that went on to become the best-selling British song of that year.
Since then, Smith has won the Brits rising star award, made the Time 100 list of influential people, and amassed billions of streams.
Smith is thoughtful on the subject and is keen not to “hyperpolarise the issue”, but says it is important for him to be open about his own experiences.
“It’s really important in my role as a British artist, but not only as a British artist, as a black male in this space to be able to be vulnerable, to be able to be open on tracks.”
Growing up, he was inspired by artists such as Labrinth, who he calls an “early example of someone who looks like me and sounds like me and is open and expressive of his emotions”.
At the same time, Smith is wary of being treated as an exception.
“I don’t like to be seen as exceptional,” he says. “I’m reflective of such a beautiful culture with such a vast array of talents.”
Rather than viewing his success as unique, he hopes it can help create opportunities for others.
“If anything, it should be showing that there’s millions of Myles Smiths who exist, and hopefully now there’s more of a ladder and a pathway for that to be seen.”
For an artist whose music is built on emotional openness, it would be easy to assume that sharing personal stories comes naturally.
But Smith admits there are still some songs he writes purely for himself.
On Grandma’s Place, he turns his attention to family, childhood and loss, revisiting memories of a place he describes as a refuge growing up.
That song was so personal that, for a time, he was not convinced it would make the album.
“Sometimes I write songs like that and they just sit on a hard drive because they are for me,” he says. “But this one just felt super right.”
