I’m David Smyth, chief music writer for the London Evening Standard since 2002. You can read witty, incisive comments about pop music and see a tiny photo of my head in the paper every Friday. My work regularly appears here.
I’ve also been published in Runner’s World, Men’s Running, The i Paper, The Scotsman, Q, The New Statesman, The Daily Telegraph, Mixmag, The Guardian, Harper’s, Blender, The Fader, M the PRS for Music magazine, Muzik and Golf World. I’ve been interviewed on Radio 6 Music, BBC London and LBC, written band biogs for publicists and hosted a panel discussion at the Great Escape festival. I was a judge on the 12-strong Mercury Music Prize panel from 2010-12 and am a co-author of the Rough Guides book The Best Music You’ve Never Heard.
I could write something for you if you’d like to contact me.
As a music consultant I have provided bespoke soundtracks for Dunhill and Mulberry stores, working with Music Concierge.
Since 2015 I’ve been a senior lecturer on the BA in Music Journalism at BIMM in Brighton. Between 2011 and 2013 I was a lecturer in the Journalism department of London Metropolitan University, and have also taught classes at BIMM London, City University, Regent’s University London, London College of Communication, Middlesex University and Coventry University.
This site is an extensive archive of my writing. In most cases the articles here are my own pre-edited versions and not necessarily the exact published text.