September 8th kicked off Sam Smith’s sophomore era with the release of his single, ‘Too Good at Goodbyes.’

Since then, the crooner has been steadily working the promo trail to promote the track and its housing album.

Sitting down with SiriusXM’s ”1 on 1 With Larry Flick,” the ‘Stay With Me’ singer had this to say about the project…

On the inspiration behind the music:

“This album I pressed the self-destruct button a little bit — when I was writing it, I was going out too much. I was drinking too much. I had a great time, and it never got too out of control, but I just wasn’t respecting myself. I didn’t like myself. And the last three months, I’ve really started to enjoy my own company and like myself.”

On being nervous about the making his return:

“And the week before wasn’t fun. I’ve been away for a year and a half. I only have one album out. I just didn’t know if people were there ready to listen to me again… Also, with the second record, I think people decide in that moment, ‘Do we want to have you back or do we not?”

On the sound structure of the upcoming music:

“When I was writing that first album, I was just such a huge pop-head. I was listening to Britney [Laughs.]… And when it came to this record, I started studying Joni Mitchell. I really went into Aretha Franklin’s greatest hits and looked at the songwriting. Etta James, the lyrics in those songs. Still, all females again… I really just started to look at lyrics and structures of songs a bit more.” [Source]

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In reference to the sound of the music, the UK-native mentions that he wanted the material to focus more on his voice this time around; a very interesting point.

When the 25-year-old hit the scene in 2013, he mesmerized many people with his voice. Then his debut album finally was released and the music was arguably overproduced. Something a number of critics picked up on.

We look forward to see how and what rolls out this time around for the Capitol Records centrepiece.

Your thoughts?