Sam Smith has described their home in New York City as a “sanctuary”.
The singer-songwriter, who is non-binary and uses they/them pronouns, relocated from the UK to the US three years ago to be with their fiancé Christian Cowan.
In a new interview with The Guardian newspaper, Smith has revealed the move led to a newfound feeling of peace.
“When I got here and was able to walk in the street and feel no judgment, I realised that I was very happy to have found a sanctuary in New York City as a queer person,” the Stay With Me star explained.
As the musician continued to discuss the move, Smith revealed “tensions were a little high” following the release of their last album, Gloria, in 2023.
Videos for songs including Unholy and I’m Not Here to Make Friends were criticised at the time for being oversexualised, leading Smith to feel uncomfortable in their home country.
“With a body like mine and the person that I am, it created a bit of a media storm,” the 34-year-old star explained. “But I moved to New York for positive reasons. I wasn’t running away from anything.”
Smith is currently gearing up for the release of their new album Hazel Eyes, which was inspired by “the bloom of falling deeply in love” with designer Cowan.
The star, who shot to fame after collaborating with Disclosure on the hit song Latch in 2012 and with Naughty Boy on La La La in 2013, also reflected on working with many different people early in their career.
“(I operated as) a pop h* for a long time – in the best way. I loved it, and I will be that again, but every two, three records were written with a different group of people,” they shared. “It was like a speed-dating process of making music.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Smith hailed the late George Michael as a “beautiful inspiration”.
However, they also insisted their career is unlike any other artist in the UK to date.
“I am not like George Michael,” they added. “I’m a femme queer and when it comes to that, and the people that came before me in the UK, it’s a different type of lineage.”
“What I’ve experienced as a queer femme artist on the global pop stage, I don’t think there’s others that I can compare my career to.”
Hazel Eyes will be released on 21 August.
