Lewis Capaldi arrives, shoulders loose, hair tousled; his eyes are bright, steady and settled. A deep exhale follows. “This feels quite weird,” he says, right leg gently bouncing as he perches on the edge of a primrose-yellow accent chair. “I haven’t done something like this for a while.”
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We meet in a downtown Chicago hotel bar, where there’s an understated sense of occasion: This is the Scottish singer-songwriter’s first in-person profile interview in almost four years. The low metallic rumble of the L train passes the window next to us at regular intervals. Capaldi, a preternaturally warm person, is telling Billboard U.K. how it feels to be back in the hot seat.
His nerves may feel palpable, but this is an artist gradually re-emerging into his element, back on tour and stepping onto the biggest stages of his career with a fresh purpose. Later this evening, he will head to the 23,500-capacity United Center as part of a sold-out North American headline tour, which has also featured shows at Madison Square Garden and the Hollywood Bowl — as well as a double-header at Denver’s Red Rocks Amphitheater — in support of his recent Survive EP (via Polydor), after the title track hit No. 1 in the U.K. last summer.
