He’s the man with the biggest sad song of the year, Scottish singer-songwriter Lewis Capaldi has wasted no time in announcing his return to Australia and New Zealand with three towering 2020 shows in Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland.
As his blockbuster debut album Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent ticks over to 1 billion streams worldwide and enters its fifth week at the top of the UK charts, Capaldi has had a sensational 18 months in which his lovelorn songcraft and mind-blowing vocal abilities have bewitched listeners both at home and abroad.
Still only 22, the sometimes heartbroken, often cheeky Scot’s signature tune is the extraordinary ‘Someone You Loved’. As the perfect showcase for his sweeping, emotive and unbelievably powerful voice, the song has proved a tonic to the jangled emotions of music lovers worldwide, especially here in Australia.
Capaldi’s other singles have also managed to hit every nerve on the way through. In fact, his debut track ‘Bruises’, written as he recovered from a particularly nasty breakup, went absolutely bananas upon release in 2017 as it clocked up 28 million Spotify streams and made him the fastest unsigned artist ever to reach 25 million plays on the platform.
A prodigy from the get-go, Capaldi grew up in Bathgate – a small town near Glasgow – and was busy learning the drums and guitar by the age of two. Naturally, by the time he was nine, a young Lewis was seen sneaking into local pubs and blowing patrons away with his astonishing talents.
From there he honed his craft, letting his brothers record collection (filled with the best of Nirvana and Bob Dylan) influence him and building his own musical sensibilities. His penchant for sparse, emotionally resonant songcraft attracted attention as he distributed demo recordings of himself playing in a bathroom, eventually catching the ears of a curious local scene.
Flash forward a couple of years and we will find Lewis Capaldi hitting Australia in the middle of an absolute hot streak.
Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent outsold the rest of the UK top 10 combined upon release last month also saw him nominated for The Brit’s Critics Choice award.
Catch him at Festival Hall in Melbourne on Friday, January 3 2020. Tickets go on sale Tuesday 10am July 2 local time
