Sam Smith releases intimate new single ‘To Be Free’ and announces 12-night New York residency

Sam Smith has shared a new single, ‘To Be Free’, and announced a 12-night New York City residency.

• READ MORE: Sam Smith – ‘Gloria’ review: the most vital work of their career

The track, released today (July 25), was originally written during the sessions for Smith’s last album, 2023’s ‘Gloria‘, but was never included on the project.

“It was created during a time in my life where I became free within myself,” Smith revealed in a press release. “I’ve never had a recording experience like I did making this song. It’s one vocal and guitar take from start to finish – one live performance of me and my friend Simon Aldred in a pure state of music and expression.”

‘To Be Free’ is backed by the TwoCity Chorus – a 22-piece choir helmed by Ant Clemons and Brandon Pain. “Over the last five years, Simon and I started to create music that fit into this world of ‘To Be Free’ and during this time, I’ve continued to turn to this song in happy moments, sad moments, lonely moments and angry moments,” Smith added.

“It’s become my sister, my family member and ultimately calms me. Now, I’m ready to let it go, and hopefully it can do the same for someone else.”

The single comes alongside a music video directed by (La)Horde. “With this song, the visual of rivers kept coming into my mind and into my heart,” Smith said. They added that they were reminded of the river near their childhood home in the English countryside, the Thames in London, and New York’s Hudson River. “Rivers have been in my life a lot. So I found it interesting to think of my music and my expression as an artist as a river.” In the video, dancers give in to the flow.”

The music video was filmed at Warsaw, one of Brooklyn’s oldest venues, and the location of Smith’s upcoming 12-night residency, coined the ‘To Be Free: New York City residency’.

They’ll perform a run of live shows at the venue from October 8 to October 31. General sale begins next Friday (August 1) at 10am local time. You can find your tickets here, and see a full list of dates below.

Sam Smith’s To Be Free: New York City 2025 Residency Dates are:

OCTOBER:
8 – Brooklyn, NY, Warsaw
10 – Brooklyn, NY, Warsaw
11 – Brooklyn, NY, Warsaw
15 – Brooklyn, NY, Warsaw
17 – Brooklyn, NY, Warsaw
18 – Brooklyn, NY, Warsaw
21 – Brooklyn, NY, Warsaw
22 – Brooklyn, NY, Warsaw
24 – Brooklyn, NY, Warsaw
29 – Brooklyn, NY, Warsaw
30 – Brooklyn, NY, Warsaw
31 – Brooklyn, NY, Warsaw

NME gave Smith’s last record, ‘Gloria’, a four-star review, which read: “Sam Smith has never sounded better because they’ve never been more themselves.”

Last year, Smith re-recorded tracks from their seminal debut album ‘In The Lonely Hour’, to celebrate its 10th anniversary. They also rewrote their breakout hit ‘Stay With Me’ to include updated lyrics.

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