Lewis Capaldi’s Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent album review

Lewis Capaldi is back on our charts after a brief hiatus that led to the creation of his second studio album Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent.

Another display of his raw, simple undisputable talent, the 26-year-old singing sensation laid his tortured soul bare once again and delivered a classic Capaldi set of tracks that’ll make you sadly sway while you put Kleenex out of business.

The star’s second stab at a chart-topping collection of hits stuck strongly to his signature style of deeply personal and difficult conversations with people in his life – and himself – that the listener was invited to sit in on.

Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent is the sophomore studio album by Scottish singer-songwriter Lewis Capaldi and each track features a set of trance-like confessions with repeated notes as he spills what’s on his mind and while it’s a beautiful, explorative listen we can’t help but feel like we’re left reaching for a little sprinkle of something off-brand to differentiate his return to songwriting.

Lewis penned songs about heartbreak, longing and loss while weaving in confessional notes of self-doubt and heartbreaking loathing for his personal journey thus far.

So were his latest efforts Pointless or not? Let’s see…

Kicking off proceedings, he hits the mark straight out of the gate with an already fan favourite number Forget Me then followed his upbeat, punchy melody with the song whose music video sent little children into torment on TikTok – Wish You The Best.

Both tracks expertly emulate the sound that launched the Glaswegian artist onto the world’s stage and welcome Lewis back with a familiar sound that we can’t help but love and sing along to at the top of our lungs.

Next comes Pointless – another one that has already been sent into the Capaldi camp of die-hard fans – which again, is a signature take on heartbreak that the star does so well.

At this stage, the album has set itself up to follow a familiar pattern of piano chords, staccato strings, a melodic build and an unaccompanied quiet bridge that whispers to the listener – until we hit Heavenly Kind of State of Mind.

Things shift a little here with a more folk sound added to his vocals and a little nod to country music in the tones that support his words.

A happier beat drives home the story and adds a touch of relief from the sorrow that has laced the opening tracks thus far.

Moving through the set list, things return to love gone wrong and heartbreak galore and then we land on The Pretender.

A real standout, this song details the star’s battle with his sense of self in the most beautiful way we’ve ever heard. It feels real, raw, gritty and the lyrics are potentially the most relatable set of messages sung by an artist in this era.

Truly touching, spitting out the lines, ‘designed to deceive, tell me who you want me to be’ and ‘I’m an imposter’ this is Lewis’s finest hour on the album and makes the listener yearn to grab his hand and tell him it’ll all be okay.

The collection rounds itself off with more odes to lost love and pleas for his special someone to find and guide him through life – all beautiful, all unchanging bar his outlier Leave Me Slowly which emulates sounds of the 90s with drum machines and electric guitar solos to rival the best of them.

Signing off with How I’m Feeling Now, the pop sensation says goodbye with a promise of return in a track that features a voice appearing to give in to the suffering with a note of unfinished business in his repeated refrains and melody that screams a Capaldi special.

‘So here’s to my beautiful life, it seems to leave me so unsatisfied’, he belts in the soulful bravado that could simultaneously melt butter and cut through glass.

Well, Lewis, you’ve certainly left us contently satisfied but admittedly wanting to see some more risks in your future – just because we know you can.

Trackisting

1. Forget Me
2. Wish You The Best
3. Pointless
4. Heavenly Kind Of State Of Mind
5. Haven’t You Ever Been In Love Before?
6. Love The Hell Out Of You
7. Burning
8. Any Kind Of Life
9. The Pretender
10. Leave Me Slowly
11. How This Ends
12. How I’m Feeling Now

Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent is available to download on May 19.