Sam Smith is off to Oz to avoid festive family rows

The Stay With Me singer may be known for his nice guy image, but reckons his family is just like any other when it comes to time spent together over the holidays, so he is planning a trip to Australia instead.

He told the Daily Mirror: “I have argued with my family every New Year’s Eve for 10 years. So I’m going to travel to the other side of the world and strap myself to a tree so I can’t argue with anyone.

“It’s not huge arguments, but when all my family drink a bit and you’ve been together for 10 days over Christmas, at the end you all start arguing. It’s just like any family.”

However, the 22-year-old is close to his parents and said one thing they wouldn’t be arguing about was a new track he had written about their divorce, which they had given their blessing to.

Sam explained: “It’s a song about my mum and dad splitting up. I played it to all my family and they have been in tears every time they listen to it.

“My parents split up when I was 18. I had the most amazing experience of divorce. They are still best friends, it wasn’t really sad. The whole concept through the time they split up was, ‘If you are happy, I am happy’.

“We are happier now they are apart because they are happier, whereas before they weren’t in love with each other.”

He continued: “The song is about how far we have come. It is quite an intense song, so I had to ring them up and ask them if it was OK to play it to my management. It is very personal.

“They were amazing about it. It’s a song I can’t wait for people to hear. I really think a lot of people are going to relate to it.”

Talking about his upcoming second album, which the song may be included on, he joked: “It’s more depressing than the first record.”