The past two years of Myles Smith’s career have made him an inescapable, unforgettable presence in music, with all that effort building toward this definitive moment: the release of his debut full-length album. The 27-year-old folk singer-songwriter saw in real time the power of music streaming and social media as his powerful 2024 single “Stargazing” propelled him into global stardom, farther than the Luton-born artist could ever have imagined. It spent close to a full year on the UK charts and reached new heights by landing at #1 on Billboard’s Alternative Airplay. Following such success, plus another hit single with “Nice To Meet You” and an honorable BRIT Rising Star award, it would make the most sense to feed the algorithm with 15 more “Stargazing”-esque tracks, but Smith had other ideas. Instead, on his debut 15-track album, My Mess, My Heart, My Life, he keeps the inevitable catchiness of his songwriting on full display while expressing feelings he has been meaning to get off his chest for nearly 10 years. He uses his journaled therapy notes from as far back as 2017 as a framework and launchpad of sorts to debut a project that is inherently his and to show the world that the previous hits were just the beginning of something special.
The title My Mess, My Heart, My Life is so much more than branding; it functions as a roadmap, dividing the tracks throughout the project into three distinct categories: the uncertainty of the past, the resulting emotional turmoil, and the way Smith navigates the world as a result of everything before. The powerful opening track, conveniently titled “My Mess,” draws directly from the aforementioned journals, building a vivid world within the track of a “fractured family” where a word could “start a war,” a heavy catharsis that shows his emotions on full display. Smith puts that image of a fractured family on display in “Grandma’s Place,” a hauntingly beautiful ballad about the loss of his only safe space after his parents’ split. By the time the tracklist reaches “Sertraline (Where Am I Now)”, an ode to his “friend sertraline,” Smith is staring down the anxiety and depression he’s faced, but he’s not letting it take control. A message that many men, especially black men, need to hear, as Smith says, “It’s important for me as a Black male songwriter to speak about my experiences of struggling. I don’t have the most confidence. I do break down sometimes. I have been broken. Saying those things out loud is really important, because I don’t want it to ever be confused that showing your emotions is weak.” Other standouts include the closer of the A-side, the intimate track “Lifetime,” a quieter reflection on committing to someone “for a lifetime,” where a lifetime is just not enough time to love someone. On top of that, the love song “Heaven,” derived not from Smith’s own experiences but from close friend and producer Peter Fenn’s marriage, is a beautiful ode to when love can feel like nothing else but “heaven.”
“It’s important for me as a Black male songwriter to speak about my experiences of struggling. I don’t have the most confidence. I do break down sometimes. I have been broken. Saying those things out loud is really important, because I don’t want it to ever be confused that showing your emotions is weak.” – Myles Smith
Despite the heavy theming throughout, the record rarely feels weighed down. Smith’s pop-y yet distinct folk flavor; acoustic-guitar-driven, mandolin ear candy; claps replacing snares; and what feels like an audience full of gang vocals backing him up on certain tracks keep even the heaviest tracks moving and palatable in all listening scenarios. Themes shine through when needed and when listened for, but the record is made for all types of listeners, and those who pay attention to the lyrics just happen to get more. All of the lyrical introspection lands differently when you remember the buzz that has surrounded Smith for years now. With “Stargazing” and “Nice To Meet You” woven into the tracklist, they are presented less as standout hits and more as proof of concept; these songs, sung by full stadiums while touring with Ed Sheeran, were built on the same bones as the most vulnerable tracks on the record. Even with over 4 billion streams across songs as proof, Smith seems just as preoccupied with how much of an impact he can make as a Black artist in a predominantly white-coded music sphere. “When I was growing up, blackness was [about] being cool, wearing Nike Tech and Air Forces,” he says. “Those things are definitely a part of Black culture, but that’s one shade of a beautiful tree. I’m trying to highlight that there’s so many other shades.”
With this debut record, My Mess, My Heart, My Life makes it clear how unbelievably confident Smith is in his art, a confidence that sometimes takes decades to find. Even on tracks clearly meant to be shouted back at him in the stadiums he’s bound to sell out, there is a chilling layer of honesty underneath that is rare among artists of his size. By bringing these notes from therapy all these years ago to light and refusing to sand the edges (regret, family estrangement, the pain of not having enough time, the dissolution of masculine stoicism), Smith offers a beautiful middle ground of vulnerability without excessive self-disdain, and overall shows that it is okay to feel, okay to grow, and okay to share these feelings not only as a man but as a human. Even with “Stargazing” having an undeniable gravitational pull on his career, My Mess, My Heart, My Life makes an incredible argument that the song was merely the starting pistol for a marathon of an inevitable, long, and prosperous career ahead.
Listen to Myles Smith’s debut full-length album, My Mess, My Heart, My Life, out now.
