Lewis Capaldi recently released his third single, “Wish You The Best,” along with a touching music video, that is about love, loss, compassion and redemption. The single comes ahead of his next album that is due out on May 19, Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent.
The Scot’s beautiful ballad for piano was written partly in studio in Los Angeles, as well as at his home in Glasgow. It very much has that intimate, honest quality that comes from tapping into one’s roots and personal experience. “‘Wish You The Best’ came from the idea of a person you used to be with, telling you all this amazing stuff about their life, without you in it,” explains Capaldi. “It’s a song about what we don’t say to those people. I was fascinated by the things left unsaid, whether that be in a relationship or a friendship.” He continues, “I’m really bad with change and moving on. I look at people I went to school with on Instagram, and they’re having kids or buying houses with a partner, and I have a really hard time with that. You can feel things passing you by. I know I’m not exactly 70 years old or whatever, but it does feel like a chapter in your life is closing when you don’t know those people any more.”
Lewis’ signature piano sound of oscillating between notes of an interval, as we heard in his hit “Someone You Loved,” is also foundational in “Wish You The Best.” The alternating, rocking movement between notes creates momentum, as in a captivating lullaby, and leads up nicely to climatic points of the song. It is the perfect piano accompaniment to support his tender and passion-filled vocals. The song is made up, mostly, of four chords and the truth. It utilizes a classic pop chord progression of I-V-vi-IV.