walking upstream…
Myles Smith
sourcesMyles Smith — Wikipedia · American Songwriter · Hits Radio · Guitar.com
Myles Smith is a British folk-pop singer-songwriter from Luton who taught himself guitar and piano as a kid, cut his teeth at local open-mic nights, and built an audience on TikTok before signing to Sony. His acoustic-guitar-built anthems "Stargazing" and "Nice to Meet You" turned him into a Billboard Alternative Airplay No. 1 act and a 2025 BRIT Rising Star winner, and he has spoken openly about wanting his success to open the door for more Black British singer-songwriters in a genre that rarely charts them.
the sound in question
2024
StargazingMyles Smith
walk the tributaries ↓
Ed Sheeran2010s · Pop / Singer-songwriter / Folk-pop
Smith has said he was 12 or 13 when Sheeran's debut album "+" hit him, and it's the record he credits with making him want to "put my own stories and own narratives together." American Songwriter names Sheeran as one of only two artists Smith has "openly acknowledged" as a direct influence. That one-guitar-and-a-voice, verse-that-quietly-builds-to-an-anthemic-chorus songwriting shape is the backbone of Smith's own biggest songs.
listen: upstream & heresource: Audacy ↗
2011
The A TeamEd Sheeran
2024
Nice To Meet YouMyles Smith
listen forA strummed acoustic guitar that stays locked to the beat rather than just accompanying it, plainspoken conversational verses, and a chorus that opens up wide and singalong rather than vocally showy — the same shape you can trace from "The A Team" straight into "Nice To Meet You."
Labrinth2010s–20s · Pop / R&B / Electronic / Hip hop / Soul
Smith names Labrinth directly as one of the two artists (with Sheeran) he has "openly acknowledged" as an influence, and it carries a personal weight beyond sound: he's said Labrinth proved "you can make pop music as a black guy from England and still be accepted" without being routed toward grime, trap, or rap. That permission, plus Labrinth's blend of soulful vocal runs with atmospheric electronic production, surfaces in the more synth-lined, widescreen build of Smith's later material.
listen: upstream & heresource: Official Charts ↗
2014
JealousLabrinth
2025
GoldMyles Smith
listen forAiry synth pads and a slow-building drum program underneath a vocal that leans soulful rather than folky — listen for the hushed verse swelling into an electronically glossed, widescreen chorus, a move "Jealous" makes on piano and "Gold" makes on synths.
Mumford & Sons2010s · Folk rock / Indie folk / Folk-pop
Smith repeatedly names Mumford & Sons among the British singer-songwriter acts — alongside Tom Odell — whose introspective, guitar-forward records he says are "when I really fell in love with songwriting." He also cites them, via Marcus Mumford, as one of the artists whose songs he covered at parties and open mics before he had his own material. Their surging, whole-band crescendos show up not as banjo-driven bluegrass but as the propulsive, hand-clap momentum of Smith's own breakout single.
listen: upstream & heresource: Official Charts ↗
2009
Little Lion ManMumford & Sons
2023
SoloMyles Smith
listen forThe way a simple strummed acoustic figure gathers drums and gang vocals behind it until it detonates into a chest-thumping, communal hook — trade the banjo for handclaps and it's the same trick "Solo" pulls.