The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Lewis Capaldi
Slessor Gardens, Dundee, September 14
As he’s from Whitburn in West Lothian, it’s surprising to hear that singersongwriter Lewis Capaldi has only been to Dundee once in his life – although maybe the fact that he’s only 21 makes it a bit more forgivable.
“It was to see The View in the old Doghouse,” he says now. “I went up with a bunch of my pals and it was incredible. The only night out I’ve ever had there was a good one so I can’t wait to come back and play a show.”
It sounds kind of unusual, given the tenderly acoustic nature of his delicate, soulful blues, but Dundee’s sometime hellraisers The View were a great influence on Lewis.
“I was a huge fan when I was younger, and I still am,” he says, on the phone from Berlin, where he’s playing a show.
“Kyle Falconer is an incredible songwriter and the rest of the band are amazing players. I must have seen them about 14 times in my life.”
What about fellow Scots Primal Scream, who Lewis will be supporting tonight at the V&A-opening 3D Festival?
“I’m really looking forward to seeing them live. I’ve only ever been a fan from afar,” he says.
“It just sums up how crazy things are, that I’m sharing a bill with these people. It should be incredible.”
First making an impression with his self-released viral hit Bruises in 2017, Lewis’s rise has indeed been meteoric – now signed to Virgin/Capitol Records, he was on the BBC Sound of 2018 list, while he’s played high-profile gigs at TRNSMT in Glasgow and supporting Rag ‘n’ Bone Man, whose sound his rasping vocal resembles.
“This year’s been really busy,” Lewis says. “Relentless, but in the best way possible. It’s much better than being unemployed, which I was before. I’ve played in Australia and Japan, which was pretty special – the tent was packed at the Fuji Rock Festival, and I put on two headline shows in Australia which sold out on both nights, both 500-capacity rooms. It took me years to sell out King Tut’s, which is a similar size.”
Back home in Scotland he’s moved to the next level, selling out two nights at Glasgow’s Barrowland within minutes – “it’s been a venue I’ve always wanted to play growing up; I think every band in Scotland has aspirations to play there – and readying his debut album for release early next year.
“A lot of people were telling me it was finished a month or two ago but I just knew there was more to be had for it so I asked for two more weeks and my label and management allowed me the time. I’m very happy with it now. I can’t wait to get it out.”