Calum Scott is back with his brand new single, Lighthouse.
The track marks a bold return for the singer-songwriter as he returns to the road for a run of global tour dates, ahead of a huge support slot with Ed Sheeran.
Of kicking off 2024 with new music, he says: “Lighthouse is a story about light in the darkness, the hope on the horizon, even if it’s in the distance and almost out of view it reminds you of what’s important and what makes you feel safe.
“It was written at a time when I was missing home and just getting a FaceTime or a text can be that lighthouse for me.
“I really pushed my limits to record the vocals on this, tried to sing with as much passion and raw emotion as I could – the production really helped with that and makes the story feel monstrous and powerful and will fill the stadiums I’m about to sing at whilst supporting Ed Sheeran!”
Listen to Lighthouse below.
It comes after Scott recently axed his planned Christmas single, which had been set for a December 2023 release, but was called off because he thought the song was too miserable.
“I’ve written one, though I think it might be too sad for a Christmas [song]. Maybe December 2024,” he told The Sun’s Bizarre column.
Speaking to RETROPOP around the release of his most-recent album, ‘Bridges’ (2022), the hitmaker looked back on his rise through the pop ranks and admitted his attitude towards commercial success has changed over time.
“At one point in my career, after Dancing On My Own and into You Are The Reason, I started to think, ‘I’m just not cool enough.’
“My ego got a little bit in the way and I started thinking, ‘I’m just not cool. I don’t have that kind of edge about me’. And then Lewis Capaldi comes on the scene and he’s got this really gravelly voice, singing a love ballad, and everybody loves him. And I got massive impostor syndrome.
“Like, ‘He’s cool, he’s singing ballads – how come I’m not cool?’ But I was thinking of it in the wrong way.”
He added: “I was trying to define what cool is, but cool is of a moment. Popper trackies were cool at one point. Nobody’s wearing those anymore.”
Now, he’s comfortable with the sound that’s opened his career up to fans worldwide and taken his music internationally to audiences across the globe.
“I’ve made peace with the fact that you’re probably not going to put a Calum Scott album on before you go on a night out,” he quipped. “What I did come to realise is that these songs – especially from the first album – have had a really significant impact on people where they’ve gone, ‘I want this as my wedding song,’ or, ‘I want this to be played while I walk down the aisle.’
“I get messages from people saying, ‘Oh, we played this at my cousin’s funeral,’ or birthdays, or whatever it is. And I think that, to me, is cool.
“The fact that my music soundtracks people’s lives is very cool.”
READ MORE: Calum Scott: ‘I used to have massive imposter syndrome – now I’ve given up trying to be cool!’
