Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Yyou know what you’re getting with Myles Smith, an artist who started his music career early. Before becoming the winner of the 2025 Brits rising star award, he started opening mic nights, producing selections from the likes of Mumford & Sons, Coldplay and Ed Sheeran, which made him a big name today. The latter in particular had such an impact on the Luton-born singer that he plays one of those funky little guitars that has become Sheeran’s trademark for so long.
So you can deride Smith as someone who wants to run a middle-of-the-road route — and one who’s a bit over the top. In 2026, although the world of singer-songwriters seems to have moved a little, its main names are perhaps grittier and obviously come from Americana (Noah Kahan, Jelly Roll), or well-known and experienced (Benson Boone), or, at least, inspired by the pain of their back (Alex Warren). But if Smith’s method is a return to the past, no one seems to have informed the public. His 2024 breakthrough, Stargazing, went platinum in 16 countries; it remains in the UK Top 100 almost two years after its release, and the follow-up Nice to Meet You is also a platinum seller. A Minute, a Moment – Smith’s 2025 EP which spanned the length of many albums – sold half a million copies in the US alone.
Playing his self-titled album, it’s hard not to be impressed by how much Smith owes to the artists he first recorded. From Mumford & Sons, he borrows the bass-drum rhythms that drive I Will Wait or Little Lion Man, as well as an unfailing dedication to singing. From Coldplay comes a great deal of non-vocal, lyrical singing – the boy never stops shaking, or woo-ooh-hooing – and big room singing, as if the music has already started around the big stage.
And from Ed Sheeran he takes everything else, up to and including other topics in his music. Much in the style of The A Team, Mary’s Song portrays a drug-addicted but good-hearted character (despite her pain, the listener is assured, “she sings her song and it’s like do-do-do-do”). Dublin Lights, meanwhile, is an Irish fiddle-de-dee horror tale about meeting a beautiful girl in a famous city – uillean pipes, “One Guinness and a sweet kiss” and more – which you’d compare to Ed Sheeran’s Galway Girl if it weren’t for the fact that it makes Galway Girl sound edgy and Spider-Man on Stage. repeatedly hitting himself on the head with a metal beer tray. Turns out it was also written by Ed Sheeran, so much so it’s hard to know what to do with it. It’s like going to see the Bootleg Beatles and finding out that Paul McCartney is taking tickets.
It has to be said that, fiddle-de-dee of horror, Smith does what he does best. The Dying Days soundtrack is beautiful and so is Heaven – although it’s hard to imagine the last song Chris Martin sang – and if you’re in the market for a pop tune, Hold Me In The Dark is a wonderful song. His songs, at times, take a personal turn when he moves away from Sheeranisms and popular pop culture tropes (“follow your heart wherever it takes you”, “I want you like the air I breathe”) and explores his past: the struggles of growing up in a “broken family;” on My Mess; depression and medication on Sertraline. Grandma’s place might be the best thing here, a romantic portrait full of details: “the smell of Dettol and beef soup”, the fear of spilling J2O on her nan’s sofa.
You just wish he would grow up a little more after working in music. As it is, it is difficult to see what Smith brings to the party, beyond the combination of his favorite artists: there is no record here that shows a person who has an original idea in his head, or at least, a person who can come out from under the shadow of his attractions. Maybe one day he will. Until then, what you’re getting with Myles Smith is the same: music that was probably made for the world of algorithms, forcing you to listen to what sounds like something you already know.
This week Alexis listened
Velvet Underground and Rico – Sunday Morning
A stunning 7in that obviously doesn’t want to be owned by anyone, but delivers a trombone-led ska on the opening banana track that’s really fun.
