At 26 years of age, Luton singer-songwriter Myles Smith is a seemingly overnight sensation that isn’t. He spent his teens on the open mic circuit and first broke ground during the pandemic when his TikTok covers went viral, before last year’s Stargazing notched up over half a billion streams on Spotify. No surprise, then, that his first UK tour of biggish venues feels like a victory lap at times. His youngish crowd don’t just film Smith singing the songs that have been released already, but film themselves singing along with them. In fairness, this is exactly the kind of atmosphere Smith’s pop-folk anthems are designed to create. With many of them clearly influenced by big hitters such as Ed Sheeran, George Ezra, Coldplay and Mumford & Sons, this year’s Brits Rising Star award winner is certainly not aiming for the fringes. Every other chorus is laden with “ohh-ohhs”… or, for variety, some “ohh-ohh-ohhs” as well.
However, the Nottingham University sociology graduate seems to have more in his locker than being a cheery song-and-dance man. A gentle reggae lilt occasionally reflects his Jamaican heritage, the soulfully anthemic Little By Little showcases the affecting tremor in his voice, and his emotional frisson and hint of vulnerability elevates his material above the blandly formulaic. When a story looks like being drowned out in audience chatter, he respectfully but firmly requests that people stay quiet enough for him to deliver the emotional introduction to My First Heartbreak, a beautifully raw acoustic song about growing up with an absent father.
Perhaps in time, Smith will draw from this deeper well more often. For now, he acknowledges that his fanbase isn’t here for “depressing shit” and the phones go up again for last year’s fiddle-tinged earworm/irritant Nice to Meet You. He sings Stargazing twice – once from the stage and again from the orchestra pit, encouraging the crowd to sing in sections. Smith can’t be blamed for milking his big moment, but there’s surely more to come from him as he starts to spread his wings.
• At 3Olympia theatre, Dublin, Tuesday 18 February. Then touring. Details mylessmith.co.uk
