Zoom on: Lewis Capaldi

LEWIS CAPALDI

ON THE WAY TO YOUR HEART

The 21 year-old Scottish singer-songwriter Lewis Capaldi is about to break into the music industry, before you can even finish reading this. With a raspy voice like no other, and a powerful tone to break the glass, he is the next one on your 2018 playlist of «most-listened artists».

The young artist started playing the guitar at age 9 back home in Scotland, in a small town named Whitburn. He also began writing his own songs at 11, which led him to perform in pubs at only 12.

« My parents introduced me to stuff like Fleetwood Mac, Genesis, Elvis and Queen at a really young age, we used to drive to France to go on holiday and those four would always be on repeat, so that got things off to a good start I suppose! »

It is later, in 2017, that Lewis got the recognition he long deserved when he self-released his first single «Bruises». The nostalgic track proves Capaldi’s talent as much in the powerful lyrics as in his deep and enchanting voice, giving you goosebumps. Added to the magic of the internet, the singer soon reached almost 28 million plays on Spotify all over the world. He then became the quickest unsigned artist to reach 25 million plays on the platform.

Magic worked straight away, and Lewis got signed to Capitol Records and Virgin Records. While catching the attention of those famous labels, he also got the recognition of his musician peers, a certain Niall Horan sharing his excitement about Capaldi on Twitter through a Live video of Lewis with the caption «huge fan of this man». No doubt Lewis is on his way to success the way Niall is with his solo project.

Last November, Capaldi was the support act for Rag’n’Bone Man for his European Tour, then made his way to Milky Chance support act for their American Tour this January. He sold out his own UK Tour last December, and is currently getting ready for his second one this month, extended it to European countries like Hungary, Germany and Belgium. If you are around, hurry up getting your tickets... Lewis Capaldi is definitely trying to get even more recognized as he deserves it (and he is killing it, to be honest!) and starting the year 2018 like a real artist and big name of the industry.

His first EP titled «Bloom» was released in November 2017, with four powerful tracks : «Fade», co-written with the Grammy Award winner Malay, that will make you shiver (and maybe even cry) ; his first ever released track «Bruises» in which you will drown and crawl under your emotions, so much you can feel the pain put into the song, and (maybe) relate to the lyrics ; «Mercy» that will either comfort you a little bit, as the back melody is a little bit more moving, or maybe get you even more to sing under the rain and cry while thinking about your whole life. Last but not least, the track «Lost On You» will leave you breathless.

« I feel like I’ll always try to write from personal experiences and that’s probably when I write the best tunes, but for me I find it really hard to write about something as it’s happening to me. […] Most of my songs are written in retrospect.»

Lewis Capaldi has been recognised as «Artists to Watch in 2018», and definitely should be. Last year, he has been nominated for the Best Acoustic Act at the Scottish Alternative Music Awards, and for Breakthrough Artist of the Year at the Scottish Music Awards, and won both of the Awards. What will 2018 bring for him on a worldwide scale ? Only time can tell...

Listen if you are a fan of-

Luke Friend, whose raspy and powerful voice instantly comes back to mind when you first listen to Lewis Capaldi. Sam Smith or James Arthur, maybe even Adele when it comes to deep lyrics and Harry Styles, for the amazing vocals.

One song to listen to-

«Mercy». We always love a good nostalgic/sad song to think your whole life again, but it is even more powerful with a little bit of moving melody added to it. Try in live, you won’t regret it !

WordS by ESTELLE ALAIS PHOTO : ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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