Lewis Capaldi insists songwriting isn’t "therapy".
The ‘Someone You Loved’ hitmaker admits people often expect him to be "moping around" because of his heartfelt lyrics but he dismissed suggestions he uses his music as an outlet for his feelings because he’s always open and upfront.
He said: "I take issue when people say that songwriting is like therapy. If you think you need therapy, go and have therapy.
"This isn’t an outlet for my feelings. I don’t have any qualms telling people how I feel about things.
"People are always surprised when they meet me and I’m not moping around.
"You don’t write songs when you’re happy. I think melancholy is the most underrated emotion there is."
A number of break-up songs appear on the 22-year-old singer’s upcoming album ‘Divinely Uninspired To A Hellish Extent’ but he insists he wasn’t a "jilted lover".
He told The Sun newspaper: "I wasn’t a jilted lover. But my relationship ended because of what I was doing with my job.
"I’m not saying, ‘I am great, and you should be with me because this guy is not right for you’.
"It was pretty amicable, but still a very upsetting split and we are still friends. She’s travelling somewhere in Thailand at the minute."
Lewis, who has suffered from panic attacks in the past, recently announced a 50p charge on tickets to his upcoming tour in order to fund a specialist team to look out for fans experiencing problems with anxiety and he thinks it’s an important issue to tackle.
He said: "In the same way people used to smoke all the time and never knew the effects of it until years later — when everyone got lung cancer — I think problems with anxiety and depression have accelerated because we all use smartphones, the internet and social media. When I first had a panic attack, I thought I was having a heart attack or stroke.
"And it was the anniversary of Avicii’s [suicide] the other day and it’s a shame that stuff like that has had to happen.
"The thing with LiveLive came after I’d been getting lots of tweets and messages from fans who wanted to come to a gig but couldn’t because of anxiety.
"So we’ve partnered with these guys who are like counsellors and professionals qualified to help if anyone is suffering from anxiety at my shows.
"Then anyone who might have worried about attending knows that if anxiety does happen, they’re going to be looked after."
Lewis Capaldi: Songwriting’s not therapy
