Broken by Desire to Be Heavenly Sent

Capaldi stated that his inspiration for writing the album was "go[ing] out and look[ing] out at the world and what's shit, and then [he] would write songs pertaining to that". In a press release at the time of the lead single "Forget Me", Capaldi explained that he did not want to make a "new sound" for nor "reinvent" himself, and that "The songs [he] want[s] to write are emotional songs, about love or loss". The album was recorded with a simple set-up, "only a small interface, laptop, speakers, and a Shure SM7B vocal mic", and songwriters and producers who worked on Capaldi's first album—TMS, Phil Plested, Nick Atkinson and Edd Holloway—with Capaldi stating "at least one of them's on almost every song". Capaldi commented that he "felt like [he] was sounding better because [he] was just chilled out in [his] own gaff". ==Promotion==

The album was announced on 18 October 2022, following the September release of the lead single "Forget Me", which debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart. It was followed by the second single, "Pointless", on 2 December 2022, which reached number one on the UK Singles Chart the following month. A trailer for Capaldi's Netflix documentary ''Lewis Capaldi: How I'm Feeling Now'', was released on 16 March 2023, followed by the promotional single "How I'm Feeling Now" a day later. The documentary premiered on 5 April. "Wish You the Best", was issued on 13 April 2023 and debuted at number one in the UK the following week. In August 2024, the album track "Love the Hell Out of You" resurged in popularity over a year after its original release after its feature in the film It Ends with Us. As a result, the song was retitled "Love the Hell Out of You (From the Motion Picture 'It Ends with Us')" on streaming and digital platforms. The song was also released as a single, and an extended play featuring the original version of the song, along with piano acoustic, guitar acoustic and string versions of the song, was released on the same day as the film, on 9 August 2024. By 25 August 2025, the song was retitled back to "Love the Hell Out of You" on streaming and digital platforms. ==Critical reception==

Broken by Desire to Be Heavenly Sent received a score of 61 out of 100 based on eight critics' reviews at review aggregator Metacritic, indicating "generally favourable" reception. Nick Reilly of Rolling Stone UK wrote that, "In leaning too heavily on the balladeering side of things to deliver a sure-fire hit, Capaldi risks neglecting the subtle moments of experimentation on show that hint at an altogether more exciting future" and "a more varied and interesting musical future could still be his. You just wish he'd dare to try that route." ==Commercial performance==

Broken by Desire to Be Heavenly Sent debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart dated 26 May 2023, outselling the rest of the top 10 combined, with 95,000 chart sales, making it the fastest selling album of the year in the UK and the largest opening week of Capaldi's career. The album debuted at number one in Australia, becoming Capaldi's first number-one album there. ==Track listing==

Note • signifies an additional producer ==Personnel==

Musicians • Lewis Capaldi – vocals (all tracks), guitar (tracks 1, 3, 11, 12), background vocals (2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12), synthesizer (4), piano (5) • Benjamin Kohn – background vocals (1, 6, 8), synthesizer (1), organ (2), keyboards (6), shaker (12) • Nick Atkinson – background vocals (1, 4, 5, 7–9, 11) • John Garrison – bass guitar (1) • Jonathan Gilmore – drum programming (1, 11), programming (1) • Freddy Sheed – drums (1, 11) • Tom Barnes – drums (1, 12), synthesizer (2), drum programming (6), piano (8) • Leo Abrahams – guitar (1) • Philip Plested – guitar (1, 6), background vocals (6, 11) • Vern Asbury – guitar (1, 7, 8) • Peter Kelleher – keyboards (1), bass guitar (2, 6, 8, 12) • Michael Pollack – piano (1, 6) • Neil Cowley – piano (2) • Dave Eggar – double bass, cello, viola, string arrangement (3, 8, 12) • Phil Faconti – double bass (3, 8, 12) • Chuck Palmer – string arrangement (3, 8, 12) • Tanner Perry – string arrangement (3, 8, 12) • Diego Núñez – violin (3, 8) • Jessica Ryou – violin (3, 8) • Xavi Morató – violin (3, 8) • Steve Pearce – bass guitar (3) • Chris Laws – drums (3) • John Paricelli – guitar (3) • Edd Holloway – bass guitar, drum programming (4, 5, 7, 9, 11); synthesizer (4, 5, 7), piano (4, 7, 9), guitar (5, 9), background vocals (7), strings (9), keyboards (11) • Jamie Hartman – guitar (4) • Jerry McPherson – guitar (4) • Aiden Halliday – piano (5) • Wired Strings – strings (5) • The LJ Singers – choir (6, 8) • Lawrence Johnson – vocal arrangement (6, 8) • Fat Max Gsus – background vocals, bass guitar, drums, guitar, keyboards, programming (10) • Max Martin – background vocals, piano, programming (10) • Oscar Holter – bass guitar, drums, keyboards, programming (10) • Robert John "Mutt" Lange – background vocals (10) Technical • Robert Vosgien – mastering • Mark "Spike" Stent – mixing • Chris Laws – engineering (3) • Dan Pursey – engineering (3) • Jonathan Gilmore – engineering (11) • Chris Bishop – vocal engineering (1, 8, 12), additional engineering (1, 2, 6, 12) • Matt Barnes – vocal engineering (2) • Edd Holloway – vocal engineering (3) • Mike Stephenson – additional engineering (3, 8, 12) • Tanner Perry – additional engineering (3, 8, 12) • The LJ Singers – additional engineering (6) • Matt Wolach – mixing assistance ==Charts==

Weekly charts Year-end charts ==Certifications==