Lewis Capaldi – Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent

If you only knew of Lewis Capaldi from his hit social media presence, then you’d be forgiven for thinking his music follows in a similar vein. While the Capaldi of self-mocking banter and general meme-worthy material found on his online platforms is hilariously good fun, his true profession as pop star-meets-heartthrob-singer-songwriter treads firmly on a lonely, sombre road. That's shown on his debut album, delving deep into a collection of heartfelt breakup ballads.

Capaldi offers up 12 songs that’d be perfectly matched with crying on the sofa while donning a fluffy blanket and tanning a tub of your favourite flavour of Ben & Jerry’s. It’s perfectly suited to his voice, however, with the sparse, acoustic nature of his songs leaving plenty of room for him to flex his rather gravelly, yet undeniably gifted vocals. Take the hugely successful Someone You Loved – which spent seven weeks at number one in the UK charts – as an example of this, with gentle piano that guides his gliding voice through three minutes of lost love and heartbreak.

That’s one thing Capaldi can’t be criticised for on this record – there’s passion in abundance. This boy has been hurt, and he’s laying it all bare on this record (even if his jokey side may contrast the seriousness of his musical acclaims). Bruises, Hold Me While You Wait, Maybe and One (to name a few) set the mood with bare instrumentals, memorable vocal melodies and Capaldi’s swooping charm able to give this record enough momentum to make it enjoyable.

Sure, Divinely Uninspired... plays it significantly safe, and the song’s patterns are fairly predictable as pop songs go, but Capaldi has enough charisma, talent and enthusiasm to carry this record.

Listen To: Someone You Loved, Maybe, One