SAM SMITH is done flinging themselves around on a “massive gold bum” with seven costume changes. This time, they’re keeping it close-up — taking their new To Be Free residency tour to smaller venues across just six cities, and chasing intimacy over arena spectacle.

Speaking from Guadalajara, Mexico, Smith said the new format scratches a “craving to look at people again”. It also gives them a clear-eyed read on who’s still turning up. “There’s some wonderful people that have stayed,” they said, “but it’s a completely different room than it was with In the Lonely Hour,” their 2014 debut.

The shift arrives as Smith prepares to release their fifth studio album, Hazel Eyes, on 21 August via Capitol. The record leans back into singer-songwriter territory — but filtered through Smith’s life now: a non-binary artist in their mid-30s, telling a queer love story and playing with familiar romantic tropes from their own perspective.

A big part of the calmer energy comes from leaving the UK for New York three years ago to be with their (hazel-eyed) fiancé, designer Christian Cowan. Smith said walking the streets there without feeling judged made the city feel like “a sanctuary… as a queer person”. They stressed they moved for positive reasons, adding: “I wasn’t running away from anything.”

After the 2023 release of Gloria — and the backlash that followed videos for Unholy and I’m Not Here to Make Friends, which were accused of being oversexualised — Smith said they wanted “safety and comfort in music” and to capture “the bloom of falling deeply in love”. They downsized the writing process, leaning into a more intimate collaboration with Simon Aldred, and co-produced the album themselves for the first time.

Musically, Hazel Eyes chases a dusky 70s mix of blues, folk, R&B and outlaw country, guided by a strict brown-and-sepia palette Smith set for the project. They also describe stepping away from the numbers game after Unholy — their 2023 Kim Petras duet — finally took them to No 1 in the US and won them a Grammy.

Away from the charts, Smith said fame hit hard early: breaking out at 20 brought what they called an “incredibly traumatic” and lonely side to celebrity. After therapy, they said they’re healthier now and better able to juggle the public part of the job — and they’ve also founded the Pink House foundation, a charity set up two years ago to support the LGBTQ+ community.