Drawing us in with an intricate guitar soundscape and an astral frequency, Henry Lees opens Smoke with dimensionality and a captivating vocal timbre as he sings, “Late last night, I was hanging on every word, all those shiny compliments, strung along like a string of pearls…”
Immediately we are enthralled by the poetic prowess and subtle bass drops which expand into a dynamic and futuristic-pop energy. We love the funk nuances, and the mesmerizing hooks, as well as Henry’s dramatic flair and assertive vibe.
There is no doubt that Smoke would be perfect for a range of sync placements, perhaps the upcoming second season of Heated Rivalry or the Heartstopper movie. In essence, Smoke is about betrayal and disappointment.
Henry sings about trusting someone who was charming but unreliable. Words that once felt meaningful now feel empty. The track captures the pain of being misled by promises that were never meant to be kept. The concept of the smoke and ashes shows how fleeting and insubstantial those feelings might have been. There is anger at the person’s deceit and false hope, and Henry wants to erase the memory entirely. He wishes the hurt, the charm, and the illusions would essentially vanish like smoke.
Speaking on the release, Henry Lees confesses, “I like to call Smoke the bad dream date song. The reality is that it’s tough out there in the modern digital dating world. Connections are made so conveniently on a screen but, you can often discover how tenuous and superficial that connection is in real life. It’s a good thing though that bitter disappointment can be great fuel for a song.”
We learn that the song was co-written and produced with Vancouver singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer-on-the-rise Sean Thomas (Debbie Gibson, Joey McIntyre, NKOTB, New Edition), and Smoke was ignited and almost completely finished during a single, laugh-out-loud cross-country writing session between Lees and Thomas.
Henry Lees is an award-winning Toronto-based singer-songwriter whose songs have earned 10 honours from major music competitions, including Semi-Finalist placements in the 2025 Unsigned Only Music Awards and the 2023 International Songwriting Competition. He has also achieved chart-topping success as a co-writer, with songs hitting #1 on Roots Music Report’s all-genre Canada Albums Chart.
Needless to say, we are in awe, and have added Smoke to our New Music Spotlight playlist, and our TIMELESS playlist, whilst we continue to stream the wider discography of Henry Lees, including Willing Heart, and Free This Love, and anticipate future releases from the visionary artist.