Sam Smith is gearing up for a well-deserved, year-long break from the music industry, which he's taking, in part, to date around as a normal 23-year-old in an attempt keep his music relatable. But before he sets off to immerse himself in the largely disappointing and frustrating world of dating, Sam decided to leave us all with one final tear-jerker, guaranteed to ignite a palpable sadness within us all.

Speaking with Zane Lowe for Apple's Beats 1, Sam admitted that the new track "Drowning Shadows" isn't actually all that new -- he wrote it long before his hits "Stay With Me" and "I'm Not The Only One." And though he's always loved the track, Sam said it didn't feel right for inclusion on his Grammy-winning album In The Lonely Hour.

But things finally clicked once he reworked the track, turning it into a somber piano ballad. Sam said, "I always loved it, but something didn't happen right with the production when we were going through different versions of it. Something didn't work. I thought of it recently when we were thinking about the repackage, and we went in and just did it with piano and the song suddenly came alive again."

The track -- which will be included on the upcoming repackaging of his album In The Lonely Hour -- sees Sam at, self-admittedly, his saddest and his most personal. He said, "It’s about me getting in a taxi and on the way back there was like a crossroads. One road would lead to gay clubs I used to go out to, and the other road would go home. I was in such a lonely, sad place when I was writing this album that sometimes, I'd literally have to choose. The lyric is, 'Do I go home for nothing or stay out for more?’"

Listen to "Drowning Shadows" above.

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