Sam Smith says no songwriters “know the magic” behind writing the perfect song

Sam Smith has refused to share the secret formula for the perfect song – but only because that formula, they’ve admitted, doesn’t actually exist.

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In a new episode of Spotify’s Song Start series, Smith opened up about the perceived deification of certain songwriters, and why – try as some might to act like every song they write will be an immediate hit – there is no one clear path to success as an artist. 

“Absolutely no one knows what they’re doing,” they said. “Even the biggest writers in the world, who have written so many hits, they can pretend like they do, but they don’t know. They don’t know the magic.”

As for their own success, Smith said that their staunch determination came in clutch, stressing to budding artists that they should “never lower [their] standards”. They continued: “You know what you need. And if you don’t know what you need, you need to ask yourself what you need. And then do not stop until you get that.”

Have a listen to Smith’s full episode of Song Start below:

Meanwhile, Smith is gearing up to release their fourth album, ‘Gloria’, on January 27. It’ll feature singles ‘Love Me More’ and ‘Unholy’ (featuring Kim Petras), the latter of which recently made Smith the first openly non-binary artist to top the Billboard Hot 100. The record will also feature appearances from Ed Sheeran, Jessie Reyez and Koffee.

A short while after they release ‘Gloria’, Smith will embark on a tour of the UK and Europe. They’ll also perform at next year’s Mad Cool festival, joining the likes of Liam Gallagher, The Prodigy, The Black Keys, Queens Of The Stone Age and Lil Nas X.

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