Sam Smith releases new video for Lay Me Down

Sam Smith releases new video for Lay Me Down

Sam Smith has released a stunning video to accompany his newest single "Lay Me Down" released through Capitol Records on 15th March. The striking video opens as Sam Smith stands at the head of a church for a funeral service, as the chorus approaches the camera pans to the back of the church and the setting becomes a wedding as Sam is getting married before finally closing as Sam sits, alone with his words in the empty pews. The breath-taking new video was directed by Ryan Hope (Bombay Bicycle Club, London Grammar, Alpines) and shot in a South-East London church, all in one continuous take with no editing involved

Just over two years ago, Sam Smith captured hearts throughout the world when he released a stripped-back, acoustic video of "Lay Me Down". The video of Sam and his pianist in a studio was raw and emotive, leading to it being shared at an exponential rate the world-over. Now in 2015, Sam has been back into the studio with producers Jimmy Napes and Steve Fitzmaurice to re-record a brand new version for single release - the result is a heartfelt and poignant track that underlines Sam's completely unique and powerful vocals.

Two years later and Sam Smith is still the name on everyone's lips as last year saw Sam sell over five million copies worldwide of his debut album 'In The Lonely Hour' making him one of the fastest-selling British debut artists of all time. 2014 saw Sam go from newcomer to international superstar having now collected an impressive array of prestigious music awards and nominations including six Grammy Nominations and leading the charge with five BRIT nominations. It was also recently announced he was the only artist in the world last year to reach over 1 million album sales in both the UK and the US.

Sam's Grammy nominations make him the first male artist in 34 years – and the first U.K. male artist ever – to receive nominations in the "big four" GRAMMY Awards® categories following the release of a debut album. In The Lonely Hour was nominated for Album Of The Year while his 4x multi-Platinum single "Stay With Me" was nominated for Record and Song Of The Year as well as receiving a nod for Best New Artist. These four categories constitute the General Field of the GRAMMY nominations. In addition, he was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album (In The Lonely Hour) and Best Pop Solo Performance ("Stay With Me"), bringing his total nominations to six.

In just a year from being awarded the BRITs Critics Choice in 2014 he leads the pack as we move into this year's BRIT Awards with five nominations under his belt for Best Male, Best Album, Best Song, Best Newcomer and Best Video.

Sam's live shows move from strength to strength, after a string of incredible sold out shows across North America, Sam will return to the UK in March to embark on another sold out UK tour, culminating in three back to back shows at London's O2 Brixton Academy. 2015 is shaping up to be bigger than the last year with Sam's escalating success and multi-national sales making him one of the UK's most exciting home-grown talents.

For more information: www.samsmithworld.com