Three years after Gloria’s, maximalist genre-hopping, Sam Smith trades spectacle for stillness on Hazel Eyes, a twelve-track meditation on requited love named for their fiance Christian Cowan. Recorded partly at Electric Lady Studios with a tight circle of collaborators, including Feist and multi-instrumentalist Shahzad Ismaily, the album marks Smith’s first outing as co-producer, and that hands-on approach shows in its cohesion, even when it doesn’t always translate to memorability.
Opener “Everlasting Love” sets the emotional arc in motion, tracing the disbelief of finally being loved back without conditions. “My Guy,” co-written with Feist and Ismaily, is the record’s warmest moment, a blissed-out declaration Smith has said they felt destined to write. Feist’s presence deepens the album further on “Moondance,” where her storytelling sensibility pulls Smith’s vocal into something more textured and lived-in than their usual balladry.
The record’s boldest swing is “Constant Companion,” which trades Smith’s piano-pop instincts for outlaw country, dusky guitars and sweeping strings courtesy of arranger Moose standing in for the usual orchestral flourishes. It’s a genuine surprise, and one of the few tracks that argues for real reinvention rather than a softer version of familiar territory.
That’s ultimately the album’s tension. Hazel Eyes is content, unguarded, and clearly meaningful to Smith personally, but contentment doesn’t always make for dynamic listening. Cuts like “Sugar Rush” and “Hold On” drift by pleasantly without leaving much of an impression, and the back half sags where earlier Smith records would have pivoted into something sharper or stranger. The vocals remain the constant, rich, controlled, and often stunning in isolation, but the songwriting doesn’t always meet them halfway.
Hazel Eyes, isn’t a leap forward so much as a comfortable exhale, a record about having survived the hard parts and finally getting to rest. That’s a fine place for Smith to write from, but it makes for a good album rather than a great one.
