Myles Smith: How five years of therapy notes became a debut album

Smith is thoughtful on the subject and is keen not to “hyperpolarise the issue”, but says it is important for him to be open about his own experiences.

“It’s really important in my role as a British artist, but not only as a British artist, as a black male in this space to be able to be vulnerable, to be able to be open on tracks.”

Growing up, he was inspired by artists such as Labrinth, who he calls an “early example of someone who looks like me and sounds like me and is open and expressive of his emotions”.

At the same time, Smith is wary of being treated as an exception.

“I don’t like to be seen as exceptional,” he says. “I’m reflective of such a beautiful culture with such a vast array of talents.”

Rather than viewing his success as unique, he hopes it can help create opportunities for others.

“If anything, it should be showing that there’s millions of Myles Smiths who exist, and hopefully now there’s more of a ladder and a pathway for that to be seen.”

For an artist whose music is built on emotional openness, it would be easy to assume that sharing personal stories comes naturally.

But Smith admits there are still some songs he writes purely for himself.

On Grandma’s Place, he turns his attention to family, childhood and loss, revisiting memories of a place he describes as a refuge growing up.

That song was so personal that, for a time, he was not convinced it would make the album.

“Sometimes I write songs like that and they just sit on a hard drive because they are for me,” he says. “But this one just felt super right.”