Lewis Capaldi’s new album outsells all Top 20 Chart contenders combined in first week of sales

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Lewis' first-week album sales have surpassed Ed Sheeran’s to become the fasting selling album of the year so far

Lewis Capaldi's new album ‘Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent’ has claimed the title of fastest selling LP of 2023 so far after Lewis' first-week album sales surpassed Ed Sheeran's and claimed the top spot. The number of sales currently totals 77,000 as of today (May 24) -- with over 24 hours of tracking still to be accounted for.

The news comes just one day after The Official Chart company released their midweek charts on May 22, confirming that Lewis Capaldi’s was heading more-than-comfortably for Number 1 in its debut week. The album, which has been out for six days, is already outselling the rest of the Top 20 contenders combined.

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Ed’s first-week sales for ‘Subtract’ totalled 76,000 chart units. Lewis reposted a Tweet from chartdata with the caption: “This is f***ing nuts!!!”

Lewis Capaldi claims fasting selling album of the year so farLewis Capaldi claims fasting selling album of the year so far
Lewis Capaldi claims fasting selling album of the year so far | Official Charts Company

The release of Lewis’ highly anticipated sophomore album comes almost four years to the day after the release of his debut album ‘Divinely Uninspired To A Hellish Extent,’ which passed the one million UK chart sales mark little over a year after its release. His first album also contained the hit ‘Someone You Loved,’ which is now the most-streamed song in Official Chart history. 

Prior to the release of his album, Lewis released four singles, ‘Pointless,’ ‘Forget Me,’ ‘Wish You The Best’ and ‘How I’m Feeling Now,’ with the first three all reaching number 1, giving him a total of five UK number 1 hits across his career. 

Despite the impressive chart sales and positive reviews from fans, Lewis said that the official reviews have been “mixed to negative.”

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Lewis took to TikTok to comment on a review he received from Pitchfork. In the video, he said: “So my new album was reviewed in Pitchfork, and I got a four, and I was like ‘whoa four that’s incredible four out of five,’ they do it out of f***ing 10.” 

But the seemingly mixed reviews can’t compare to reviews from fans, and the numbers speak for themselves. Fans have described the album as “fantastic” and has left fans “sobbing.” In addition to this, Lewis has sold out every one of his ‘Behind The Music’ shows “almost instantly.”

Lewis’ 'intimate” ‘Behind The Music’ shows are in celebration of the album release. Last night (May 22), Lewis announced another last minute ‘Behind The Music’ show in Edinburgh that will be held at 1pm today (May 23) at the O2 Academy in Edinburgh. Tickets for the event have already sold out and is in addition to the two other Edinburgh shows Lewis will hold at Edinburgh Queens Hall today.  

He has played nine of the intimate shows since Friday - in London, Dundee, Glasgow and Nottingham - with 3 in Edinburgh today and a final two in Bristol tomorrow (May 24). 

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