Latest news with #BrokenByDesire
The Guardian
12 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Lewis Capaldi at Glastonbury review – a triumphant, hugely emotional return to the Pyramid stage
As Lewis Capaldi points out, the 'secret' of his brief and ostensibly unannounced set on the Pyramid stage wasn't terribly well-kept. 'I don't know who's been fucking telling everyone,' he shrugs, but the word seemed to be out before Glastonbury even began. When the Guardian interviewed festival-goers queueing as the gates opened on Wednesday, several listed him as the artist they were most looking forward to seeing this year. The crowd he draws is vast: both a reminder of how successful his first two albums were – his debut was the bestselling UK album of 2019 and 2020 – and of the emotional charge that his appearance carries. He last played Glastonbury in 2023: it was supposed to be a return to live performances after he had to cancel a series of gigs amid struggles with his mental health and Tourette syndrome. Instead, his voice gave out, and Capaldi subsequently retreated from public view. He says he's 'easing into this' but, it has to be said, he looks noticeably less anxious two years on. There are no signs of the physical tics that beset him during the promotion of his second album, Broken By Desire to Be Heavenly Sent, and his voice is as roaring as it ever was. There's definitely less of what Capaldi used to call 'the blather' – the reliably hilarious and foul-mouthed between-song chat that frequently used to last longer than the actual songs – partly because of time constraints, and partly, he says, because he's worried that he's going to cry. When he does try to talk he's frequently drowned out by the sound of the crowd singing his name to the tune of the White Stripes' Seven Nation Army. From the opening notes of Before You Go, the crowd sing along to every song he plays, only ceasing when he performs a new song, Survive, that's very clearly inspired by the events of the last two years: 'I'm going to get up again, I'm going to get up and try if it's the last thing I do.' It's slow-paced, soaring-chorused business as usual, but whatever other advances have taken place in pop since Capaldi absented himself, the success of Alex Warren, Benson Boone et al. proves there's still a substantial space for earnest, melancholy young men with acoustic guitars. He ends, inevitably, with Someone You Loved, which provokes a crowd sing-along that makes all the previous sing-alongs seem like rehearsals: as he predicted, Capaldi's eyes start to brim. 'Second time's the charm, eh?' he nods: it would require a very hard heart indeed not to be moved yourself.
Perth Now
21 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Lewis Capaldi vows to Survive on powerful comeback single
Lewis Capaldi has returned with the powerful new song Survive. The Someone You Loved hitmaker has made a triumphant return with the moving song, having been on a break from the spotlight since breaking down on the Glastonbury stage in June 2023, after vocal tics plagued his singing - a symptom of the neurological disorder Tourette's syndrome. The 28-year-old star belts on the tearjerking ballad: "I've still got something to give/Though it hurts sometimes/I'm gonna get up and live/Until the day that I die/I swear to God, I'll survive." Declaring his return amid much speculation that he will return to Glastonbury this weekend, Lewis wrote on Instagram: 'It's been a while…' Lewis has made a gradual return to performing live, having got up onstage at a charity concert in Edinburgh in May. The Pointless singer - whose second album, Broken By Desire to be Heavenly Sent, went to No.1 in the UK charts in 2023 - announced he needed to spend more time focusing on his "mental and physical health" after his last Glastonbury set. In a lengthy statement shared on social media at the time, he said: "First of all, thank you to Glastonbury for having me, for singing along when I needed it and for all the amazing messages afterwards. It really does mean the world. "The fact that this probably won't come as a surprise doesn't make it any easier to write, but I'm very sorry to let you all know I'm going to be taking a break from touring for the foreseeable future. "I used to be able to enjoy every second of shows like this and I'd hoped 3 weeks away would sort me out. "But the truth is I'm still learning to adjust to the impact of my Tourette's and on Saturday it become obvious that I need to spend much more time getting my mental and physical health in order, so I can keep doing everything I love for a long time to come."
