Lewis Capaldi says he’s been in a “creative rut” this year, but is heading into the studio in January.
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The musician returned this year with an EP, ‘Survive’, in November, marking his first new music since his 2023 album ‘Broken By Desire to Be Heavenly Sent‘.
It followed his surprise set on the Pyramid Stage at this year’s Glastonbury – a particularly poignant slot as his break from performing live started after he was forced to cut his set on the same stage in 2023 short due to struggling with tics caused by Tourette’s.
Now, Capaldi has admitted that despite his successful year, he’s been in a creative rut.
Appearing on Australian radio show Carrie and Tommy recently, 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,” he added.
Describing his songwriting process, Capaldi explained: “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 phone for ages.
“It depends, sometimes it’s music and melody, sometimes it’s a lyric or something hanging around,” he shared.
Capaldi also opened up on how he overcame his nerves on his Glastonbury return, revealing he “banned everyone from backstage”, including his parents.
“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,” he said.
Since Glasto, Capaldi has teamed up with BetterHelp to provide 734,000 hours of free online therapy, and said it was because “therapy is the reason why I am able to be a musician again”. He would also play some warm up shows in May in celebration of Mental Health Awareness Week.
Next year is also set to be a busy year of live shows for him. He’ll be headlining two huge ‘In The Park’ summer 2026 shows in Liverpool and Newcastle, as well as a new UK and Ireland tour in 2026, and a headline slot at next year’s BST Hyde Park and a set at Sziget Festival.
