Lewis Capaldi confirms he is behind mystery pitched-down vinyl stunt in record stores

    Lewis Capaldi performs at Glastonbury 2025, photo by Andy Ford

    The “mystery vinyl” with pitched-down vocals that’s arrived in record stores ahead of this weekend’s Record Store Day has turned out to feature a new song by Lewis Capaldi.

    • READ MORE: Lewis Capaldi – ‘Broken by Desire to Be Heavenly Sent’ review: overwrought and frustrating

    Shops in the UK and US, including Rough Trade, recently got a new shipment of “mystery” records, which are pressed on vinyl and contain no artist name or title. The cover is a plain white sleeve, and there is nothing printed on the record itself revealing which artist it belongs to.

    The boxes of vinyl have been free for customers to take, even though one of them ended up on eBay for £2,500. Some have shared online that employees have described it as a sneak preview of a new song from “a major artist” which is set to be released properly soon.
    The mystery singer on the record was widely predicted to be Capaldi, based on the vocal inflections and romantic lyrics.
    @lewiscapaldi

    hope you don’t hate this song as much as I hate watching my self lip syncing along to it #staylove #contentking

    ♬ Stay Love – Lewis Capaldi

    Other potential suggestions that gained popularity online were James Arthur, The 1975, Bon Iver and Niall Horan.
    Capaldi has now confirmed that he was behind the stunt by posting a TikTok of him lip-syncing to the song’s proper studio recording: “So when the rights are going wrong/And I’m barely holding on/Baby hear me when I say/Oh won’t you stay love/When everybody’s leaving/Come on, stay love/To get me through the evening.“
    The song continued: “Oh I pray love/That you’ll always be the one/And when the road gets rough/Don’t give up on us/And this could stay love.”
    “hope you don’t hate this song as much as I hate watching my self lip syncing to it,” Capaldi quipped in the caption.

    The singer returned in November last year with an EP, ‘Survive’, marking his first new music since his 2023 album ‘Broken By Desire to Be Heavenly Sent‘.

    That EP followed his surprise set on the Pyramid Stage at this year’s Glastonbury, which was 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.

    Since making his comeback, Capaldi has made a surprise appearance at a charity event alongside Matty Healy, made a cameo in Taylor Swift’s ‘Opalite’ music video, and hinted at new music on the way.

    He will be performing at BST Hyde Park and Roundhay Festival 2026 this summer.  Jacob Alon and Conan Gray are joining him for both dates, while he will also be headlining two huge ‘In The Park’ summer 2026 shows in Liverpool and Newcastle, as well as a set at Sziget Festival.

    The post Lewis Capaldi confirms he is behind mystery pitched-down vinyl stunt in record stores appeared first on NME.

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