Finlay Dow-Smith (born 8 July 1988), known professionally as Starsmith, is a British songwriter, record producer and DJ.
Smith's best known for co-writing and serving as the primary producer for Ellie Goulding's debut album Lights, which was met with critical and commercial success. Following its release in 2010, it went straight to No. 1 in the UK Albums Chart. The album has gone on to sell over 2,000,000 copies worldwide. He teamed up with Goulding again on her second studio album, Halcyon (2012), producing and co-writing three songs on the album,[1][2] and eight years later, he collaborated on four tracks from her fourth studio album Brightest Blue (2020).
For his contributions as record producer, Smith has been nominated for Producer of the Year at the 2018 A&R Awards,[5] He also was recognized by the Music Producers Guild with nominations for Breakthrough Producer of the Year in 2011, and for his work as DJ he earned a nomination for Remixer of the Year in 2012.[6][7]
Career
He studied a classical music degree at the University of Surrey,[8] majoring in performance on saxophone and graduating in 2009. He met Ellie Goulding during his final year and together they started creating what would become her debut album, which was then signed to Polydor Records a few months after he graduated.
Starsmith toured with Goulding in 2009 and 2010, and also played with her on Later... with Jools Holland in 2009, playing bass guitar. He is a noted instrumentalist, additionally playing piano and guitar, but his main instrument is the saxophone.
In December 2011, he was the subject of an episode of the Red Bull and Vice documentary series, The Producers.[9] In March 2014, the track "Dead In The Water" that he co-wrote and produced with Ellie Goulding was included in the promotion and soundtrack for the film Divergent,[10] which opened at No.1 at the Worldwide Box Office.[11]
In 2015, he co-wrote and produced seven songs with Jess Glynne on her number one debut album I Cry When I Laugh, including the single "Hold My Hand", which spent four weeks at number 1 in the UK and sold over two million copies worldwide. In 2017, he collaborated with Paloma Faith on her number one album The Architect, co-writing and producing five songs. Their first writing session together resulted in the lead single "Crybaby". That year he also wrote songs with Jessie Ware for her album Glasshouse and with Rae Morris for her album, Someone Out There. He worked with Cloves and her longtime writing partner Justin Parker on singles from her debut album. "Bringing the House Down", their first collaboration, was released in early 2018 as the album's lead single.[12][13] He co-wrote and produced the lead single "I'll Be There" for Jess Glynne's second album. The song went to number one in the UK, achieving their second chart-topper, and third top 3 single together.
In 2020, Smith reunited with Goulding, and worked on four songs for her fourth studio album Brightest Blue.[14]
In August 2024, Smith released his first song as a lead artist since 2011, titled "Leave Me Slowly" which he co-wrote with longtime collaborator, Ellie Goulding and Sarah Troy. The Garage song includes uncredited lead vocals from Goulding.[15] It was released via Headroom and Another Rhythm Records.[16]
