Lewis Capaldi has been in a “creative rut” this year – but is heading into the studio in January.
The Scotting singer/songwriter released four-track EP Survive in November, his first new music since 2023 album Broken By Desire to Be Heavenly Sent and his decision to take a lengthy break from music to deal with his mental health struggles and make his Tourette’s Syndrome more manageable following his tough 2023 Glastonbury performance
Capaldi, 29, made a triumphant return to Emily Eavis’ music extravaganza on Worthy Farm in Somerset, South West England, this summer but he has admitted the songs have not been flowing freely the past several months, but he is going to make a start on a batch of new songs in January.
Appearing on Australian radio show Carrie and Tommy, he said: “I haven’t written a song since March of this year, I haven’t picked up a guitar, or written anything new. I was finding myself in a bit of a creative rut.
“In January, well next month, I’ve got some studio time booked in and that’ll be the first time I’ll have got back to making stuff.”
Describing his songwriting process, he added: “It depends. Sometimes I have songs which are melodies that I record into my phone. Other times I’ll have lyrics sitting around on my hone for ages.
“It depends, sometimes it’s music and melody, sometimes it’s a lyric or something hanging around.”
Capaldi also opened up on how he overcame his nerves on his Glastonbury return, revealing he “banned everyone from backstage”, including his parents, so no one else’s nerves could trigger him.
He said: “I was nervous, but I wasn’t anxious. I’ve changed how I see things in my head. It’s not a situation of ‘I have to do this’, but a situation of ‘I get to do this!’ I banned everyone from backstage – my parents, my management – I don’t want anyone’s anxious energy getting on top of me. After the gig, everyone can come back [stage]. So, I felt nervous, but I didn’t feel it was going to be an issue, whereas the time before at Glastonbury, I knew something was going to go wrong.”
Capaldi insists his life has been transformed by the medication he has been prescribed to help control his Tourette’s tics and his anxiety and weekly therapy sessions.
He said: “I take aripiprazole, which helps with my general anxiety and my tics. I go to therapy every week. Luckily, I feel alright. It’s therapy and a mix of medication, and trying not to rot in my bed and my house for too long.”