LISTEN to Sam Smith’s Burning: ‘I was an absolute mess when I wrote it’

Smith said it is the most personal track he has ever written

Emotional: Sam Smith has dropped his next single

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Emma Powell27 October 2017

Sam Smith has released new song Burning, telling fans it is the most personal track he has ever written.

The 25-year-old said he was an “absolute mess” when he penned the single after struggling for weeks to cope with a break-up and the pressures of fame.

He said the song is about his intent to self-destruct and features the lyrics: “Such a burden, this flame on my chest/ No insurance to pay for the damage/ Yeah, I’ve been burning up since you left.”

Speaking to BBC Radio 1 after premiering the debut following days of teasing he said: “I’m so ready for people to hear that song. I was going through a really tough time last year. I live in London and I went through a break up and I dealt with it in a bad way and I was going out way too much and I was burning in a way.

“I didn’t want to write which is a weird thing for me because music is therapy to me. But I couldn’t write so I had a six week gap of no writing and went in for the first day after that break and Burning was the first song I wrote.”

He thanked fans for listening to him “moan about my heart” after they inundated him with praise, saying they had been moved to tears by the track.

One fan deemed the song a “work of art” while another claimed it had given them “chills all over my body”.

Smith, who is dating 13 Reasons Why actor Brandon Flynn, recently made his return to music with new track Too Good At Goodbyes after a two year hiatus.

It was his first release since The Writing’s On The Wall, in 2015. The song provided the theme for James Bond’s Spectre and won Best Original Song at the 2016 Oscars.

He is currently gearing up to release his third album, which he said will have autobiographical elements.

Speaking to Nick Grimshaw he said: “There’s about four songs that are about me and the rest are about different things and different people in my life and what they’ve gone through.

“Different in my opinions on different things. I wanted to welcome people back in and I want it to be about my voice and about the storytelling of something that I’ve gone through.”