Lewis Capaldi, a 26-year-old Scottish singer-songwriter, has made a prominent place for himself in the Western music industry. With his first album released in 2019, and another scheduled for release on 19th May this year, he has made some popular tunes that have earned him a massive following, amassing 32.6 million monthly listeners on Spotify. His documentary How I’m Feeling Now released on Netflix on the 5th of April and gives an insight into his life and music, whilst also focusing on his mental health.
There’s no doubt that he has achieved a lot in very little time, but the statistics won’t even begin to cover all that he has to offer. His songs revolve around themes of love (or the lack thereof), loss, heartbreak, and longing among others, and have a sense of sensitivity and compassion attached to them. Don’t be fooled by his seemingly sad songs though – once you want to get to know him (which you will), his social media and public appearances will give a glimpse into a personality that also knows how to give people a good laugh. So as a fan, like me, you’d be signing up for a good deal of feels and funnies.
If you are just getting to know the artist, here are a few of his songs that you must have on your playlist:
- Someone You Loved
One of his most popular songs with more than 2 billion streams on Spotify, ‘Someone You Loved’ perfectly captures the idea of losing someone you loved and who loved you. First released in his extended play ‘Breach,’ the song also features on his debut album ‘Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent.’ It became Capaldi’s breakthrough single and went on to receive a Grammy nomination for Song of the Year. Lewis once revealed that the song is about his grandmother who died a few years before he wrote it.
- Before You Go
With more than a billion streams on Spotify, ‘Before You Go’ is Capaldi’s second most streamed song on the platform. In a recent interview, he says that this is one of the most personal songs he wrote on his debut album, being about his aunt’s death by suicide. The famous lyric “Was there something I could’ve said to make it all stop hurting, it kills me how your mind can make you feel so worthless,” points to the helplessness of someone who has lost a loved one to suicide.
- Hollywood
“When you’re just a step away from falling apart, do you ever feel like going back to the start?” – featured on his debut album, this song captures the feeling of wanting to go back in time in a (past) relationship when things were better. It talks about being separated by distance and time, and hoping that the other person feels the same to want to reconnect for a second chance.
- Forget Me
The first single from his second album – ‘Broken by Desire to be Heavenly Sent’ – happens to be the first song he released after a three-year gap. About heartbreak, this song expresses the desire to not be forgotten by someone you loved as these lyrics profess – “even after all it’d still wreck me, to find out you’d know how to forget me.”
- Pointless
The second single from his to-be-released second album, this song talks about the titular sentiment that “everything is pointless without you.” This song tends to have a universal feel to it as the “you” could be anyone and the music video of this song portrays a mother-son relationship. In a heartfelt tune, Capaldi expresses the feeling of waiting for someone no matter how long, because you know that the two of you are meant to be together.
- How I’m Feeling Now
His latest single, ‘How I’m Feeling Now’ is, as he claims, the most personal song for him on his second album. He talks about his mental health and him trying to deal with his recurring thoughts of how he “should feel on top of the world” (given his success) but he doesn’t. his documentary is named after this song and portrays exactly this feeling via film. This song seems to be a successful attempt by him at trying to be “as transparent as I possibly can be with my lyrics.”
In a recent interview, the singer claimed that he wants to make songs that “feel universal” so even those who haven’t gone through the incidents he writes about, are able to relate to his music in some way and that’s exactly what listening to his songs feels like. Whether you like his genre or not, you’ll always be able to find something for yourself in his music, something that will make you feel less alone and more understood. To quote from his documentary trailer, “He sees humanity and understands it” – and that’s a gift any person would be lucky to experience. This isn’t someone you’d want to sleep on, so catch a glimpse into the life and mind of this “unlikely superstar” through his music and newly released documentary now!