Sam Smith Debuts “Drowning Shadows” On Beats 1 Radio
“This is the saddest song I’ve ever written.”
The new James Bond movie arrives Friday sporting a Sam Smith theme song, but the English singer launched a preemptive strike today by unveiling a new track on Beats 1 Radio. The ballad is titled "Drowning Shadows," and it will appear on a special edition of Smith's multi-platinum selling debut album, In The Lonely Hour.
"Drowning Shadows" drips with piano and strings. Do I go home for nothing, Smith wonders, or stay out for more? The more I drink, the more I drown. "Brace yourself," the singer wrote on Instagram. "It's a sad one. But I'm very proud of this song. It's insanely personal to me." In an interview with Zane Lowe, Smith added, "this is the saddest song I've ever written, and probably the least radio friendly [song] that I've ever written." But he explained, "I wanted to remind everyone where I come from as a songwriter and what my intent was when I made this album."
Revisit Smith's FADER cover story.