Hopefully I'll be happier soon and I'll write about that.' Smith also said in an interview with The Line of Best Fit that the most personal song in this album is 'Good Thing'. I was sad, heartbroken, and I wrote about being sad. Talking about the name of the album they said: 'People are saying, 'Oh but it's too sad', but that's what it's about. In an interview with Digital Spy, Smith described the overarching theme of their album as 'sad'. The standard edition of the album contains ten tracks, including the singles ' Lay Me Down' and ' Money on My Mind'.

On 7 January 2014, Smith unveiled the artwork and track listing for the album. It was announced on 16 December 2013 that Smith's debut studio album would be released on through Capitol Records. The album was re-released in November 2015 as In the Lonely Hour (Drowning Shadows Edition), which features 12 new tracks, including the Disclosure single ' Omen' (which features vocals from Smith), the Comic Relief version of 'Lay Me Down' featuring John Legend, and covers of Whitney Houston's ' How Will I Know' and Amy Winehouse's ' Love Is a Losing Game'. In the Lonely Hour also received a nomination for Best British Album at the 2015 Brit Awards the accolade ultimately went to Ed Sheeran for x. It was nominated for Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards, winning the latter and losing to Morning Phase by Beck in the former. It was the second best-selling album of 2014 in the UK, and the third best-selling of 2014 in the United States. The album was a commercial success worldwide, reaching number one in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Upon its release, In the Lonely Hour received mostly lukewarm reviews from critics, many of whom praised Smith's vocal performance but were critical of the songwriting. A deluxe edition of the album contains five bonus tracks, including a solo acoustic version of Disclosure's single ' Latch' and Naughty Boy's number-one single ' La La La', on both of which Smith provided guest vocals. The album's third hit single, ' I'm Not the Only One', reached number three in the UK and number five in the US. The album includes the hit singles ' Money on My Mind' and ' Stay with Me', both of which were number one in the UK the latter becoming a hit worldwide, peaking in the top ten in over 20 countries, including reaching number two in the US. In the United States, it was released on 17 June 2014 through Capitol Records America.

It was released in the United Kingdom on via Capitol UK and Method Records. In the Lonely Hour is the debut album by English singer and songwriter Sam Smith.

In the lonely hour deluxe version