Harry
Irony so frequently dominates our interactions in the post-modern era in which we reside. However, as much as it can provide us with comfort and comedy, it separates us from sincerity. Irony is a defence mechanism that enables us to keep others at an arms length. It also happens to be an idea in which Capaldi’s online personality revels. It was something I also came across before hearing any of his music. I was therefore in the unusual position of knowing more about Capaldi as a celebrity and online viral sensation than as a musical artist. I didn’t necessarily see it as a negative. Indeed, seeing Capaldi continuously have Noel Gallagher on toast demonstrated that he was a comedic, self-aware and clearly intelligent individual.
To my surprise, Capaldi’s music couldn’t be further from my expectations. This album is a collection of incredibly sincere and powerful ballads. Though the lyrics mostly fairly generic, they are sung in a very compelling and believable way (although when he too frequently strains his voice it does become insufferable).
Despite many of the strengths of the album, it does come across as if it no more than the sum of its parts. The single power of the album is incredible and a number of the songs are individually exceptional. However, within the context of the album, they often sound one dimensional and start to become an amorphous blob of melodramatic self-indulgence.
Whilst many of the strong songs amidst this album have catapulted Capaldi to the top, I look forward to seeing him use this strong foundation to really craft a concise and strong album.
62/100
Zach
When I first heard the viral single ‘Someone You Loved’ I thought: Here we go again, another huge one hit wonder that will similarly fade into insignificance, similar to a Callum Scott with ‘Dancing On My Own’. However, Capaldi’s unprecedented stardom, largely as a result of his hilarious and infectious character represented a different type of artist. It became clear quickly that he was not just someone who would fade but instead someone who was about to grab the spotlight. Credit has to go to his management, the exposure he got straight away is incredible, there was a point where I couldn’t go 5 minutes without seeing Capaldi pop up on my feed. Furthermore, when he received such a large promotional backing for his debut album, I was intrigued to say the least. Would Capaldi be about to reimagine his almost predetermined status as a one hit wonder and become an artist in his own right?
Prior to listening, I saw this album going one of two ways. Either it was going to follow the trajectory of an Adele album, varied in style but with consistently good songwriting, or going to be a collection of songs that sounded pretty identical to Someone You Loved, just worse. Sadly, my fears were confirmed, and this album is really just a bunch of songs that are not very different to the hit single.
Let’s start with some positives however, Lewis Capaldi is a great singer. His voice is very impressive throughout, although at points I’d want him to explore some different colours other than the relentless raspy angsty tone he has. Secondly, at 42 mins, this album is very accessible, if this album was 70ish minutes I would have hated it. Lastly, in isolation some of the songwriting is outstanding, and has some songs that contain some great lines that are guaranteed to make every 12 year old girl to 45 year old mum cry.
However, these songs that are well written all just sound too similar to each other, and there isn’t enough variation at all. The album merges into one: the cyclical and predictable chord progressions, Capaldi’s tone, and the subject matter of songs just make it seem like one long version of Someone You Loved.
Some may argue that this is ‘his sound’ and he’s just being true to himself, however taking Adele as an example, she is able to coin her sound as producing power ballads but mixing them in with songs that sound different which all in all produce a varied album.
There is no doubt Capaldi has escaped the One Hit Wonder moniker and is a credible artist in his own right with this debut album, however in the future he should be aspiring to variation within his own sound. An artist to watch, for sure.
Spazzy McGee 