Someone to love: Rising Scottish singer Lewis Capaldi

Breakthrough singer Lewis Capaldi is such a nice guy that after you and he breakup, he writes songs about the experience, then let's you preview them before they are released to the world.

That's what happened when the 23-year-old Scottish crooner crafted songs for his passionate pop debut, "Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent," which focuses a good amount on the end of his relationship.

"During the course of this album I used to send (my ex) all of the songs like, 'What do you think of this? What do you think of this?' She was the only person who'd be like, 'This is (expletive) shady,'" said Capaldi, who is friends with his former girlfriend.

This Oct. 11, 2019 photo shows Scottish singer Lewis Capaldi poses for a portrait at concert venue Brooklyn Steel in New York. Capaldi’s hit single, “Someone You Loved,” spent seven weeks at No. 1 in the U.K. and, so far, has peaked at No. 3 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart in the U.S. (AP PhotoKevin Hagen)

When asked about his album being compared to Adele's "21" — the colossal release that sent the Brit to superstardom but also brought attention to her ex — Capaldi said: "I think that's why I maybe subconsciously sent (my ex) those songs."

"Not that I was writing bad. She never did anything bad. It wasn't like my relationship ending was a grand thing of like, 'You cheated on me. I can't believe it,'" he added. "It was just one of those things that fizzled out. It was a shame. That's it."

But as Capaldi worked on his debut effort — which since its May release has combined global streams exceeding 2.3 billion — he found himself wanting to write about topics outside of his relationship. He said while recording the album, he was having the best years of his life, but sad moments like his breakup and the death of family members stood out. So, he wrote about the topics.

This Oct. 11, 2019 photo shows Scottish singer Lewis Capaldi poses for a portrait at concert venue Brooklyn Steel in New York. Capaldi’s hit single, “Someone You Loved,” spent seven weeks at No. 1 in the U.K. and, so far, has peaked at No. 3 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart in the U.S. (AP PhotoKevin Hagen)

His grandmother's death fueled the lyrics behind his breakthrough anthem, the pop ballad "Someone You Loved," which is currently No. 3 on Billboard's all-genre Hot 100 chart and No. 1 on Top 40 radio. The song also topped the U.K. charts for seven weeks.

"I didn't cry when she died, which was very bizarre, and I remember being like, always upset," he said. "When you're younger, your grandparents ... you know them just as, 'Well this is my grandmother, she makes a great bowl of soup.' ...You don't really know them personally. You don't start that until you are older, and you start to learn about their life. You learn beyond the old lady."

"I was just getting to properly know you and you're taken away. But I didn't want to write a song like, 'My gran's dead. That's very morbid,'" he said.

This Oct. 11, 2019 photo shows Scottish singer Lewis Capaldi poses for a portrait at concert venue Brooklyn Steel in New York. Capaldi’s hit single, “Someone You Loved,” spent seven weeks at No. 1 in the U.K. and, so far, has peaked at No. 3 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart in the U.S. (AP PhotoKevin Hagen)

The multi-platinum-selling ballad has topped the charts in several territories, from Canada to Scotland to Malaysia, and it has helped raise Capaldi's profile in the U.S., where his album steadily climbs the Billboard 200 chart. This week, it has jumped to No. 25.

Capaldi said the track is finding success because his fans have been able to relate to the song in different ways, whether it's the death of a family member or the demise of a romantic relationship.

"I think when people come up to me after the shows and say (the song reminds me of), '...My brother who passed away' or 'a girl that I don't see any longer'" — just all of that (stuff), that's amazing," he said.

This Oct. 11, 2019 photo shows Scottish singer Lewis Capaldi poses for a portrait at concert venue Brooklyn Steel in New York. Capaldi’s hit single, “Someone You Loved,” spent seven weeks at No. 1 in the U.K. and, so far, has peaked at No. 3 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart in the U.S. (AP PhotoKevin Hagen)

SiriusXM believed in Capaldi early, first playing "Someone You Loved" in December 2018: "When we heard it we thought, 'This is Ed Sheeran meets Adele with a very fresh, unique voice,'" said Scott Greenstein, president and chief operating officer at SiriusXM.

It was around the time SiriusXM acquired Pandora and Greenstein "was looking for something to sort of test both platforms working simultaneously and hand-to-hand and see what would happen if we accelerated and believed in something."

"SiriusXM, that's a pretty regular occurrence, but Pandora is used to be more of a laidback service where things would surface up. This was sort of one of the first times a new song was aggressively played to see if it could perform like a hit would after its been on the platform for many months," he said. "The song and the timing seemed to fit a unique place."

This Oct. 11, 2019 photo shows Scottish singer Lewis Capaldi poses for a portrait at concert venue Brooklyn Steel in New York. Capaldi’s hit single, “Someone You Loved,” spent seven weeks at No. 1 in the U.K. and, so far, has peaked at No. 3 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart in the U.S. (AP PhotoKevin Hagen)

The music video for "Someone You Loved" — keep the tissues near — is focused on raising awareness about organ donation and stars the singer's cousin, "Doctor Who" actor Peter Capaldi. And the rest of Capaldi's album has similar emotion, hitting you in the gut with piercing lyrics anchored by his gravelly voice, which he honed by imitating Joe Cocker for years and years.

"I just love voices that felt like they punched you in the face, in the best way possible," he said.

Capaldi said he started singing around age 9, just belting around the house. That led him to start posting videos on YouTube — "Justin Bieber was getting found on YouTube ... it was the beginning of all that" — and then he started performing at pubs. He did that for nine years and it's how he — sort of — met his current manager.

This Oct. 11, 2019 photo shows Scottish singer Lewis Capaldi poses for a portrait at concert venue Brooklyn Steel in New York. Capaldi’s hit single, “Someone You Loved,” spent seven weeks at No. 1 in the U.K. and, so far, has peaked at No. 3 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart in the U.S. (AP PhotoKevin Hagen)

"There is some confusion. My manager said that he sent someone to the bar I was playing at to come see me. He said he found my stuff on (SoundCloud)," Capaldi said. "He still does it now to be honest, sits on SoundCloud for (expletive) hours at a time, just tries to find someone with a voice."

Shortly after, Capaldi got an email.

"I thought, 'Strange man on the internet emailing me.' I ignored it a couple of times," he said, laughing. Capaldi later invited him to a show, but he made sure his parents were there.

"I would say to any children out there, 'Anyone that's 17 or whatever that gets an email, just make sure your mom's out there. If a strange man on the internet promises you stardom, it's probably not good,'" he said.

While Capaldi's music is packed with emotion and passion, his Instagram page? It's playful, silly and mirthful. He posts various selfies — taken like a parent still trying to learn about angles — and in photos he's wearing bright pink flamingo sunglasses or cheetah-framed ones. He could give a master class on how to wrap your head in a towel — fans have even sported the look at some of his shows. He'll also crop himself into group photos. This sums it all up: his profile name is Lewis Calamari.

Capaldi said because social media is filled with so much negativity, he just wants to use it to have some fun: "I just do it to amuse myself."

"It's kind of cool to be able to do both things. I've been to see so many bands and singers over the last 20 years of my life and they play all the sad music. In between songs I'm like, 'Oh this next song is about people in my family that died, or my girlfriend.' (And they reply), 'Who (expletive) cares. Sing the song ... We're all drunk. No one wants to be somber here,'" he said. "I think that's what I love about it even though the songs are sad, the shows are not sad."

"That last New York show, the crowd was like rowdy, which I've been so surprised by," he Capaldi said. "Because you listen to the music and it's like, you don't go see Adele and people are on people's shoulders. ...I think it may have something to do with Instagram or whatever or who I am as a person."

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A Ukrainian court on Friday ordered the detention of the country’s farm minister in the latest high-profile corruption investigation, while Kyiv security officials assessed how they can recover lost battlefield momentum in the war against Russia.

Ukraine’s High Anti-Corruption Court ruled that Agriculture Minister Oleksandr Solskyi should be held in custody for 60 days, but he was released after paying bail of 75 million hryvnias ($1.77 million), a statement said.

Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau suspects Solskyi headed an organized crime group that between 2017 and 2021 unlawfully obtained land worth 291 million hryvnias ($6.85 million) and attempted to obtain other land worth 190 million hryvnias ($4.47 million).

Ukraine is trying to root out corruption that has long dogged the country. A dragnet over the past two years has seen Ukraine’s defense minister, top prosecutor, intelligence chief and other senior officials lose their jobs.

That has caused embarrassment and unease as Ukraine receives tens of billions of dollars in foreign aid to help fight Russia’s army, and the European Union and NATO have demanded widespread anti-graft measures before Kyiv can realize its ambition of joining the blocs.

In Ukraine's capital, doctors and ambulance crews evacuated patients from a children’s hospital on Friday after a video circulated online saying Russia planned to attack it.

Parents hefting bags of clothes, toys and food carried toddlers and led young children from the Kyiv City Children’s Hospital No. 1 on the outskirts of the city. Medics helped them into a fleet of waiting ambulances to be transported to other facilities.

In the video, a security official from Russian ally Belarus alleged that military personnel were based in the hospital. Kyiv city authorities said that the claim was “a lie and provocation.”

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that civic authorities were awaiting an assessment from security services before deciding when it was safe to reopen the hospital.

“We cannot risk the lives of our children,” he said.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was due to hold online talks Friday with the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, which has been the key international organization coordinating the delivery of weapons and other aid to Ukraine.

Zelenskyy said late Thursday that the meeting would discuss how to turn around Ukraine’s fortunes on the battlefield. The Kremlin’s forces have gained an edge over Kyiv’s army in recent months as Ukraine grappled with a shortage of ammunition and troops.

Russia, despite sustaining high losses, has been taking control of small settlements as part of its effort to drive deeper into eastern Ukraine after capturing the city of Avdiivka in February, the U.K. defense ministry said Friday.

It’s been slow going for the Kremlin’s troops in eastern Ukraine and is likely to stay that way, according to the Institute for the Study of War. However, the key hilltop town of Chasiv Yar is vulnerable to the Russian onslaught, which is using glide bombs — powerful Soviet-era weapons that were originally unguided but have been retrofitted with a navigational targeting system — that obliterate targets.

“Russian forces do pose a credible threat of seizing Chasiv Yar, although they may not be able to do so rapidly,” the Washington-based think tank said late Thursday.

It added that Russian commanders are likely seeking to advance as much as possible before the arrival in the coming weeks and months of new U.S. military aid, which was held up for six months by political differences in Congress.

While that U.S. help wasn’t forthcoming, Ukraine’s European partners didn’t pick up the slack, according to German’s Kiel Institute for the World Economy, which tracks Ukraine support.

“The European aid in recent months is nowhere near enough to fill the gap left by the lack of U.S. assistance, particularly in the area of ammunition and artillery shells,” it said in a report Thursday.

Ukraine is making a broad effort to take back the initiative in the war after more than two years of fighting. It plans to manufacture more of its own weapons in the future, and is clamping down on young people avoiding conscription, though it will take time to process and train any new recruits.

Jill Lawless contributed to this report.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Ukrainian young acting student Gleb Batonskiy plays piano in a public park in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, April 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)