Everything to know about Sam Smith's debut album 'In The Lonely hour'
It was released in 2014
Last updated 57 minutes ago
It's been more than a decade since the release of Sam Smith's debut album 'In the Lonely Hour' in May 2014, and two years since the singer celebrated that milestone with a new edition of the album.
We take a deep dive into the original album's biggest singles, and the meaning behind the title...
When was it released?
'In The Lonely Hour' was first released on 26th May 2014. It went to Number 1 in countries across the world, including here in the UK.
What's the tracklist?
The album features ten tracks, including the Number 1 hits 'Stay With Me' and 'Money On My Mind'. The track list is as follows:
- 'Money On My Mind'
- 'Good Thing'
- 'Stay With Me'
- 'Leave Your Lover'
- 'I'm Not The Only One'
- 'I've Told You Now'
- 'Like I Can'
- 'Life Support'
- 'Not In That Way'
- 'Lay Me Down'
What is the meaning behind the title?
Sam has previously described ‘In The Lonely Hour’ as a tribute to unrequited love — wanting it to be a relatable ‘heartbreak’ album for anyone and everyone. The singer has also reportedly revealed it was inspired by a person they loved…but who didn’t love them back.
10th anniversary edition
In August 2024, Sam released a special 10th anniversary edition of the album, as well as re-releasing their massive hit 'I'm Not The Only One', this time as a duet with Alicia Keys.
Back in June that year, Sam took to Instagram to share the exciting news of the album's re-release, sharing the new artwork, which showed the 'Writing's On The Wall' singer re-creating the pose featured on the original album.
Then, on the release date of the 10th anniversary edition, Sam shared a black and white video, accompanied by their song, 'Stay With Me', which showed behind the scenes of the photoshoot.
On its release, fans left excited messages such as: 'Oh,I love this celebration of In the lonely hour so much. Brings back all these special memories back which we ve been through. Connect with this songs til the end of my life. ❤️The new version with Alicia is so beautiful 🙏', (sic) with another writing: 'Still so in love with this album, your voice and well.... You in total haha 😍!!!'.
The original version of the song was released back in August 2014, and reached Number 3 in the UK.
Album artwork
Unsurprisingly, the album artwork has a clear theme of heartbreak — with Sam looking forlorn, sat on some sort of chair or stool.
Did Sam tour ‘In The Lonely Hour’?
Yes! Sam took the ‘In The Lonely Hour Tour’ across the UK, wider Europe, America, Canada and Asia. The tour ran from 2014-2015 and featured various festival appearances, including Lollaloopza.
Did it win any awards?
The album, released in May 2014, was nominated for two Grammy Awards, Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album.
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