After making his eagerly-awaited return last month and rocketing straight to the top of the UK singles chart with ‘Forget Me’, making it his third UK number 1, Lewis Capaldi today announces his brand new record Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent - out May 19th 2023 on EMI Records.
It is the follow up to his debut, Divinely Uninspired To A Hellish Extent, which was the biggest selling UK album of both 2019 & 2020.
From announcing the single via a TikTok live stream during the closing night of his two sold-out London’s O2 Arena shows, ‘Forget Me’ arrived with high anticipation from the start, and was shortly followed by a true spectacle of a music video that saw Lewis re-enact Wham’s 1983 hit ‘Club Tropicana’ shot-for-shot. The song - now silver certified, and approaching 100 million streams globally - made him just the third artist this year to have a single go straight in at Number 1 in its first week, alongside Harry Styles (‘As It Was’) and Dave (‘Starlight’) and is still sitting in the UK top 3.
So, for album two, the idea is simple but potent: to go in and do the exact same thing. No bells, whistles or starry featured vocalists, and no ruinously expensive stays in distant studios. Like it was on the first album, straight-up, full-force honesty. “I don't want to create a new sound for myself, or reinvent myself.” says Lewis. “The songs I want to write are emotional songs, about love or loss.”
He soon found a groove that suited him just fine, with a recording setup of just a small interface, laptop, speakers, and a Shure SM7B vocal mic. “I felt like I was sounding better because I was just chilled out in my own gaff. Also, a lot of this record was made with most of the same people who I worked with on the first one: TMS, Phil Plested, Nick Atkinson and Edd Holloway. At least one of them's on almost every song.”
It’s safe to say that debut album Divinely Uninspired To A Hellish Extent was a success. Selling over 10 million copies worldwide, the album propelled Capaldi from bedroom musician to superstar. Few have seen a debut release quite like it, becoming the biggest selling UK album of 2019 & 2020, spawning two UK number 1 singles and a number 1 smash hit on both sides of the globe in ‘Someone You Loved’, as well as bagging a few BRITs and a Grammy nomination along the way.
After selling out headline shows to hundreds of thousands across the continents, Lewis sold out London’s SSE Arena Wembley ahead of his debut album release, making him one of the first artists to ever achieve such a feat. Just this summer, he re-emerged to headline his first ever festivals, on top of two rapturous sold out nights at London’s O2 Arena last month. He will now take to the road next year for a full arena headline tour across the UK & Europe. Pre-sale on Oct 26th, and general sale on Oct 28th.
If his first album made him an international star, with his second it’s nothing less than superstardom that beckons. Fans across the world have connected with ‘Forget Me’ in their droves, showing that the insatiable appetite for Capaldi burns as bright as ever.
“I'm ready,” he concludes, champing at the bit to get back out there, “and so are the songs.”
