SAM SMITH SAYS HELLO WITH "GOODBYES"

On 9/8, Capitol troubadour Sam Smith officially dropped "Too Good at Goodbyes"—his first single in nearly two years, and the lead track from his forthcoming, sophomore full-length, which will reportedly arrive before Christmas.

The song, which was written with frequent collaborator Jimmy Napes and Stargate, flew to #1 at iTunes in 20 countries, including the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, New Zealand and (lest we forget) Namibia, vaulting over both new Taylor Swift hits ("Look What You Made Me Do" returned to #1 U.S. on Sunday night, but Sam retook the spot on Monday.)

The Spotify "playlist video" for the track (which is not the official clip) is reportedly having a considerable global impact on the service; it's also one of only a few such "vertical videos" to be featured in top playlists including Today's Top Hits and New Music Friday, in 50+ global territories. Note that views of this special vid will not be included in the single's stream count.

To mark Sam's return, showcases will take place in L.A. (9/11), NYC (9/13), London (9/15) and Berlin (9/18). Stay tuned for updates, as venues and details have yet to be announced.

"Goodbyes" follows "Writing's on the Wall," the James Bond theme song Napes and Smith wrote for 2015 blockbuster Spectre, which won Best Original Song at the 73rd Golden Globes and the 88th Academy Awards.

How big will the new album be? 2014's In the Lonely Hour moved around 169k units in its debut week, setting a record by selling more copies in the first week of release than any other debut album by a U.K. male artist in the modern album chart era. It then celebrated the longest unbroken run ever for a debut album when it spent 67 consecutive weeks on the Official Albums Chart Top 10, surpassing The Beatles (62 weeks) and Emeli Sande (66 weeks). At the following Grammy Awards in 2015, Smith was dubbed Best New Artist, while the album, which was nominated for Album of the Year, won for Best Pop Vocal Album and breakout single "Stay With Me," which went #1 at American Top 40 radio, won Song of the Year, and its Darkchild remix won Record of the Year. According to the RIAA, it is now two-times platinum in the U.S.