In the Lonely Hour

Background[edit]

It was announced on 16 December 2013 that Smith's debut studio album would be released on 26 May 2014 through Capitol Records.^[5] On 7 January 2014, Smith unveiled the artwork and track listing for the album. The standard edition of the album contains ten tracks, including the singles "Lay Me Down" and "Money on My Mind".^[6]


In an interview with Digital Spy, Smith described the overarching theme of their album as "sad". Talking about the name of the album they said: "People are saying, 'Oh but it's too sad', but that's what it's about. I was sad, heartbroken, and I wrote about being sad. Hopefully I'll be happier soon and I'll write about that."^[7] Smith also said in an interview with The Line of Best Fit that the most personal song in this album is "Good Thing".^[8]


In another interview with Digital Spy, when asked to describe the album, they said: "My debut album is just a diary from a lonely 21-year-old. That's what it is. It was my way of talking about the only real issue in my life. I don't have that many sad things going on in my life and it was the only thing that was really affecting me last year: I fell in love with someone who didn't love me back, and it made me get into this head space of, 'Will I find a man to love? When will I find love?' This album is my 'fuck off' to everyone and basically say, 'No, I have been in love with a man and, if anything, it was much more painful than your version', because I'm not getting what I want with a man and it's so close I can almost taste him. So, it's my way of defining what is love, and how unrequited love is just as painful, just as powerful, as what we call 'normal' love."^[9]

Commercial performance[edit]

On 28 May 2014, In the Lonely Hour debuted at number one on The Official Chart Update in the United Kingdom, outselling Coldplay's album Ghost Stories (which was entering its second week in the charts) by nearly 20,000 copies.^[36] On 29 May, the album entered the Irish Albums Chart at number two. On 1 June, the album entered the UK Albums Chart at number one with sales of 101,000, making it the fastest-selling album of 2014 (at the time),^[37] and number two in Scotland. In the first five weeks after its release, the album had sold 228,000 copies in the United Kingdom.^[38] On 18 December, it was announced that the album had surpassed the 1 million mark in the UK, having sold around 1,007,000 copies by midnight. It became just the second artist album in the UK to sell over 1 million copies a month after Ed Sheeran reached that plateau with his album x. Smith also becoming the only artist to sell 1 million copies of an album in both the UK and the US in 2014.^[39] In the Lonely Hour became the second best-selling album of 2014 in the UK with 1,248,000 sold for the year.^[40] On 4 September 2015, the album broke the record for most consecutive weeks in the UK top ten for a debut release, which currently stands at 67.^[41] On 29 December 2017, it was certified 8× Platinum by the BPI.^[42] As of December 2015, In the Lonely Hour has sold 2,140,000 copies in total in the UK, including 893,000 units sold in 2015.^[43]


In the United States, In the Lonely Hour debuted and peaked at number two on the Billboard 200, selling 166,000 copies in its first week, making it the largest debut for a solo artist's first album since Phillip Phillips' The World from the Side of the Moon launched with 169,000 at number four on the week ending 25 November 2012. It was beaten to the top spot by Lana Del Rey's Ultraviolence, which sold 182,000 copies that week.^[44] The album held at number two the next week with sales of 67,000, bringing the set's total sales in the United States up to 233,000.^[45] By the year's end, the album had achieved Platinum status and had shifted 1,210,000 copies in the United States, making it the third best-selling album of 2014 behind 1989 by Taylor Swift and the Frozen soundtrack.^[46][47][48] In addition, Smith sold 2.8 million singles from the album, while the album was streamed 87 million times and viewed on UK video streaming sites 48 million times.^[39] In the US, Smith sold 9.2 million digital track downloads, with "Stay with Me" alone selling 4.1 million.^[49] According to Nielsen SoundScan, In the Lonely Hour was also the eight best-selling album of 2015 in the United States, with 1,741,000 album-equivalent units (1,018,000 of that in traditional album sales).^[50] The album has sold 2.228 million copies in the US as of December 2015.^[46][50]


In Australia, In the Lonely Hour debuted at number two, behind Coldplay's Ghost Stories and remained in the top 20 until 23 August 2015.^[51] With the Australian leg of their In the Lonely Hour Tour in April 2015, the album rose to peak at number one for the week commencing 27 April 2015, in its 48th week.^[52]


"In The Lonely Hour" was phenomenally successful in New Zealand, spending 68 non-consecutive weeks in the top 10, including 8 non-consecutive weeks at the summit of the chart. The album has been certified 4× Platinum as of 7 December 2015 for sales exceeding 60,000 copies and was the fourth-to-highest selling album of 2014 in New Zealand. The album is placed 5 in New Zealand's all-time best-charting albums.^[53]


Supported by the release of their second album's lead single, the album returned to the Swedish and Danish top 10 in September and November 2017 respectively - more than 3 years after its release.^[54][55]


According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, "In The Lonely Hour" sold 3.5 million copies in 2014^[56] and 2.6 million copies in 2015,^[57] becoming the fifth best-selling album of both years.


In 2015, In the Lonely Hour was ranked as the third most popular album of the year on the Billboard 200.^[58]

Notes