爱的模样 (2020)

Love Goes is the third studio album by the English singer-songwriter Sam Smith. It was released on 30 October 2020 through Capitol Records. The album serves as a follow-up to Smith's second studio album The Thrill of It All (2017). Originally planned to be titled To Die For, the album was due for release on 1 May 2020 but was delayed amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The album was promoted by the singles "My Oasis", "Diamonds" and "Kids Again".

Love Goes debuted in the top-ten on various official charts, including in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand and Switzerland. In the United Kingdom, it debuted at number two, Smith's only album not to top the Official Albums Chart, while it peaked at number five on the US Billboard 200. It has sold over 4.5 million copies worldwide, as of 2021.

Background

In an interview with Zach Sang in October 2019, Smith confirmed that their third album would be released in 2020, and said it would feature "fewer ballads and plenty of poppier tracks" than their previous albums, which they called an "acoustic-y, soulful version of pop music". Smith went on to explain that the reception to their recent songs had "almost given me permission to kinda do what I've always dreamed of doing but I was always scared to do, which is pop music." Smith described the album as their "first proper heartbreak album". In an interview with Apple Music's Zane Lowe, Smith said

"I'd say [this was] the first proper time I've been actually heartbroken. That feeling of they're gone, you can't sleep, the really, really bad feeling. The others were the idea of it and it was pure unrequited love. This, I would like to say that we loved each other. So, I definitely, definitely loved him. So yeah, it was proper."

Smith opened a pop-up store in Soho, London named after the album in February 2020 before the release of the single "To Die For".

Release and title

Originally planned to be titled To Die For, Smith's third album was due to be released on 1 May 2020, but was then pushed back to 5 June 2020. By the end of March, Smith had confirmed that they had decided to delay the album till later in the year amid the COVID-19 pandemic. On their social media account, they posted the following message: "I have done a lot of thinking the last few weeks and feel that the title of my album and imminent release doesn't feel right ... I have to come to the decision to continue working on the album and make some important changes and additions. I will be renaming the album and pushing back the release date—both of which are to be confirmed at this time".

On Friday 17 April, Smith explained the reasons for changing the album during an interview with Zoe Ball on BBC Radio 2, stating that the "album had the word 'die' in the title, which I just felt really uncomfortable with, with what's happening [coronavirus] and it's so important for me to be sensitive to my fans and to people listening to my music. This has been a really sad and awful time for us, so I've changed the album title, I'm going to change the album cover." The original cover art depicted Smith facing head-on with hands all around them. The hands on the album cover belong to Smith's "chosen family", Shea Diamond, Alok Menon, Jeff Hova, and Madison Phillips. Upon postponing the album, Smith announced that a new cover art would be produced.

Singles

Before its delay, Smith had released a number of singles in promotion of the album. "Promises" with Calvin Harris, "Fire on Fire" from the miniseries Watership Down, "Dancing with a Stranger" with Normani, "How Do You Sleep?", "I Feel Love" (Smith's cover of Donna Summer's 1977 single), "To Die For", and "I'm Ready" with Demi Lovato were all included on the album's original preorder, but are now all included as bonus tracks on the album, with the exception of "I Feel Love".

"My Oasis" featuring Burna Boy was released as the lead single from the album on 30 July 2020, followed by the second single "Diamonds" on 18 September 2020. With the release of the album, the music video for "Kids Again" was released. It serves as the third single.