Lewis Capaldi still enjoys reading reviews of his music: ‘Even the bad ones’

A journalist’s description of Capaldi sounding like ‘a constipated Hozier’ tickled the ‘Before You Go’ vocalist

Lewis Capaldi has revealed that he still reads reviews of his music, even the less favourable ones.

The Grammy-nominated Scottish singer-songwriter is set to release his second studio album, Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent, on 19 May.

His 2019 debut, Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent, topped the UK album charts for six weeks and became the best-selling album of both 2019 and 2020.

At the time of release, The Independent gave the album a four-star review, with Roisin O’Connor stating that it “proved Capaldi’s songwriting chops”.

In a new interview with The Independent, Capaldi says that he remains appreciative of, and entertained by the takes on his musical stylings.

“I still enjoy reading reviews of my music… even the bad ones,” he said. “Thomas H Green of The Arts Desk said I sound like ‘a constipated Hozier’ and I thought that was hilarious.”

He continued by coming up with his own comparisons: “I think I sound more like a Paolo Nutini knockoff. Or like if Adele was a guy and not as good.”

The interview, published on Saturday (15 April), then featured Capaldi defending Ed Sheeran from some of the harsher takes he’s received over the years.

“I’d say that Ed has been at it a lot longer than me and he does get a lot of unfair criticism,” Capaldi said. “I think he’s one of the best songwriters of the past 30 years. But I think he gets overlooked because of his popularity.”

Lewis Capaldi (Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)

Capaldi’s friendship with Sheeran was referenced in his recent Netflix documentary film, Lewis Capaldi: How I’m Feeling Now.

While staying at Sheeran’s home in Sussex, Capaldi opened up to the “Shape of You” star about having feelings of imposter syndrome.

Sheeran mentioned Capaldi’s anxieties to Elton John, who then sent Capaldi an encouraging email.

Elsewhere, fans were moved to tears by the film’s exploration of the singer’s struggles with mental health and his eventual diagnosis of Tourette’s syndrome.

You can read The Independent’s full interview with Lewis Capaldi here.