Scottish singer/songwriter Lewis Capaldi gained rapid entry into the pop mainstream toward the close of the 2010s, propelled by his gravelly tone and intense vocal style on tracks such as the brooding “Bruises” and the global smash “Someone You Loved.” Both anchored his debut full-length, Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent, which followed a pair of Brit Awards and a Grammy nomination. Three straight U.K. number ones—including the hit “Forget Me”—preceded the May 2023 arrival of his sophomore set, Broken by Desire to be Heavenly Sent.
Early momentum built in 2017 after he issued his first single, “Bruises,” a stark piano-driven reflection on a broken relationship that showcased his intimate vocal-and-keys approach. Even with just that one release, the Bathgate native sold out Glasgow’s historic King Tut’s venue and accumulated millions of streams, then issued the similarly stark follow-up “Lost on You” that summer. Virgin Records soon signed him, and both songs appeared on his introductory EP, Bloom; the year closed with a Scottish Music Award for Breakthrough Artist of the Year. The first half of 2018 found him touring North America and Europe ahead of the Jessie Reyez collaboration “Rush,” which preceded “Tough” by several months. Those two cuts filled his next EP, Breach, released that November.
His first studio album, Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent, surfaced on Virgin EMI in May 2019 and yielded four Top Ten U.K. singles, among them the chart-topping “Someone You Loved” and “Before You Go.” The former held the summit for eight weeks and reached number one in the United States for a single week late that year. A Grammy nomination arrived for the track, and in early 2020 he collected Brit Awards for Song of the Year and Best New Artist. Additional 2020 releases—the EP To Tell the Truth I Can’t Believe We Got This Far and the concert set Live from Wembley—sustained interest while he readied the next record. Its lead single, “Forget Me,” entered at the top of the U.K. chart upon release in September 2022. “Pointless” and 2023’s “Wish You the Best” also hit number one before Broken by Desire to be Heavenly Sent arrived that May.
