寂静时分 (2014)

In the Lonely Hour is the debut studio album by the English singer and songwriter Sam Smith. It was released in the United Kingdom on 26 May 2014 via Capitol UK and Method Records. In the United States, it was released on 17 June 2014 through Capitol Records America. The album includes the hit singles "Money on My Mind" and "Stay with Me", both of which were number one in the UK; the latter becoming a hit worldwide, peaking in the top ten in over 20 countries, including reaching number two in the US. The album's third hit single, "I'm Not the Only One", reached number three in the UK and number five in the US. A deluxe edition of the album contains five bonus tracks, including a solo acoustic version of Disclosure's single "Latch" and Naughty Boy's number-one single "La La La", on both of which Smith provided guest vocals.

Upon its release, In the Lonely Hour received mostly lukewarm reviews from critics, many of whom praised Smith's vocal performance but were critical of the songwriting. The album was a commercial success worldwide, reaching number one in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, Sweden and the United Kingdom. It was the second-best-selling album of 2014 in the UK, and the third-best-selling of 2014 in the United States. It was nominated for Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards, winning the latter. In the Lonely Hour also received a nomination for Best British Album at the 2015 Brit Awards.

The album was re-released in November 2015 as In the Lonely Hour (Drowning Shadows Edition), which features 12 new tracks, including the Disclosure single "Omen" (which features vocals from Smith), the Comic Relief version of "Lay Me Down" featuring John Legend, and covers of Whitney Houston's "How Will I Know" and Amy Winehouse's "Love Is a Losing Game".

Background

It was announced on 16 December 2013 that Smith's debut studio album would be released on 26 May 2014 through Capitol Records. On 7 January 2014, Smith unveiled the artwork and track listing for the album. The standard edition of the album contains ten tracks, including the singles "Lay Me Down" and "Money on My Mind".

In an interview with Digital Spy, Smith described the overarching theme of their album as "sad". Talking about the name of the album they said: "People are saying, 'Oh but it's too sad', but that's what it's about. I was sad, heartbroken, and I wrote about being sad. Hopefully I'll be happier soon and I'll write about that." Smith also said in an interview with The Line of Best Fit that the most personal song in this album is "Good Thing".

In another interview with Digital Spy, when asked to describe the album, they said: "My debut album is just a diary from a lonely 21-year-old. That's what it is. It was my way of talking about the only real issue in my life. I don't have that many sad things going on in my life and it was the only thing that was really affecting me last year: I fell in love with someone who didn't love me back, and it made me get into this head space of, 'Will I find a man to love? When will I find love?' This album is my 'fuck off' to everyone and basically say, 'No, I have been in love with a man and, if anything, it was much more painful than your version', because I'm not getting what I want with a man and it's so close I can almost taste him. So, it's my way of defining what is love, and how unrequited love is just as painful, just as powerful, as what we call 'normal' love."

Singles

"Lay Me Down" was released as the lead single from the album on 15 February 2013. In January 2014, the song entered the UK Singles Chart at number 134 after Smith won the BBC Sound of 2014. It then peaked at number 46 after being mentioned by James Corden at the 2014 Brit Awards.

"Money on My Mind" was released as the album's second official single. It officially impacted radio stations in Italy on 27 December 2013. It was also officially released later in the UK on 12 February 2014 and in Germany on 16 February. The song has peaked to number 1 on the UK Singles Chart and number 4 on the Irish Singles Chart. The song has also charted in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands. A music video for the song was first released onto YouTube on 12 January 2014. The song has sold in excess of 600,000 copies in the UK alone.