Back in 2011, Tom Smith of Editors teamed up with Andy Burrows of We Are Scientists to form Smith & Burrows. That November, the pair released their debut album together, Funny Looking Angels. Comprised of covers and original songs, the Christmas album offered a unique take on the winter holidays.
Eight years have since passed, and now Smith & Burrows are preparing their overdue second album! In November 2018, they debuted a new song called “All The Best Moves” live. At the time, Andy confirmed that they were working on a new album. The duo wrote and recorded off and on throughout early 2019, and by June, Tom was teasing the new demos he could listen to.
On August 18, 2019, the duo arrived in Nashville, Tennessee, where they are now recording the album with producer Jacquire King. He’s the same man who produced Editors’ fourth album, The Weight Of Your Love. After one full month, the duo finished recording the album.
Tom since confirmed that the new album is not a holiday record.
For several weeks in spring 2020, Andy and Tom teased their album’s lead single, finally confirming it would be “All The Best Moves.” It premiered on the evening of Monday, June 22nd, and the music video appearing early the next day. That same week, Tom and Andy revealed more news about the upcoming album: Its title is Only Smith & Burrows Is Good Enough, and two more songs are “Bottletops” and “Buccaneer Rum Jum.” It’ll be a breezy, jubilant, tongue-in-cheek album!
In July, Andy revealed on Twitter that the album might be coming in October. However, October instead arrived with the promise of a new single very soon, and the album sometime in the new year.
On October 12th, Smith & Burrows released “Old TV Shows” as the second single. They also revealed the full 10-song tracklisting, the album’s cover art, and the confirmed release date: February 5, 2021.
On December 7th, fans got to hear the third single, “Parliament Hill.” The duo filmed the music video at the beginning of the month, releasing it in the new year on January 7th. By that point, the album had been quietly pushed back to February 19th.
At the end of January, Smith & Burrows released an excellent fourth single, “I Want You Back In My Life.” This might be the final song we get before the album comes out on February 19th.
Only Smith & Burrows Is Good Enough is out in just a few weeks! Stay tuned for more news and our full album review.
