Lewis McLaughlin: On Music, Momentum, and the Road Ahead
The Scottish musician continues to captivate audiences with his soulful storytelling and rich indie-folk sound. With a new tour and exciting releases ahead, he’s just getting started.
Lewis McLaughlin writes the kind of songs that somehow make you nostalgic for memories you haven’t even made yet — warm, timeless, and impossible not to sing along to.
Described by BBC’s Phoebe IH as a “folk-edged Paolo Nutini for a fresher generation”, Lewis is carving out a space in the indie-folk world that feels both familiar and refreshingly new.
From writing songs in secret at age fourteen to winning the 2022 Glastonbury Emerging Talent competition, McLaughlin’s journey has been nothing short of a whirlwind. His 2022 debut Feel the Ground You Walk Upon was a striking introduction — characteristically introspective, and filled with warmth and nostalgia.
With his latest release in August of last year, A Hope In Fear, he’s pushing his sound even further. Blending folk, indie and subtle electronic elements, the record secures McLaughlin’s place as a standout voice in the indie scene, proving he’s not just a promising newcomer — he’s here to stay.
Now, with a new tour on the horizon and fresh music in the works, Lewis is gearing up for what might just be his most exciting year yet. We caught up to chat about his journey so far, his latest releases, and what’s up next for him!
2025 has already been quite a busy year for you, and it’s only February! You’ve just announced your UK tour in May. How are you feeling about getting back on the road?
Yeah, feeling great! I’m so, so excited to get out on the road this year and I’m playing more gigs than I ever have done. In May, we’re starting off at home in Scotland, and then going across to Ireland for the first time, which I’m so excited for. Then in October, which has just been announced, we’re going back down to England, and doing a more extensive tour of England.
I think live is where I get the most joy out of. I’ve always loved playing live, I love my band and I’m so excited to go to loads of new places and also go back to places that I've played before. There’s no better feeling!
You’ll be playing a lot of new venues, new cities, new places, it all sounds like fun! Do you have a favourite place you’ve played so far?
Well, it’s a bit of a cop out maybe, but I live in Glasgow and there really is something special about the Glasgow crowd. It’s also obviously nice to go home and play in Edinburgh, which I’m excited for. Also down in England, Brighton is a really beautiful place. Last time we played this tiny little venue called the Folklore Rooms, which was a great night — and we sold it out, so now we’ve got a slightly bigger place. But yeah, plenty new places to explore this year as well!
And you were at Celtic Connections recently, so congrats on that. How did you find that?
Yeah, that was unbelievable. There's always a really good atmosphere, cause there are lots of people that maybe haven’t seen me before, as well as lots of people that do know my music. It’s always just a really receptive audience and playing the Òran Mór is just a total dream come true. It’s such an iconic venue and, as you often do when you’re starting out, we’ve done a lot of tiny little venues with really tiny staircases, or you get there and the sound equipment’s kind of broken or something. So a gig like that just feels like something we’re getting something back from all the work that we’ve put in! It’s a really nice way to start the year — kind of weird way to start the year. January’s so quiet, and then I just had the biggest headline gig I’ve ever done in the middle of it. But it was such a nice night.
And you’ve got Belladrum then later this year, which is always really fun. How do you approach playing for a live festival crowd compared to smaller, more intimate settings?
Yeah, I think the festival slots are very different. There’s less time to connect with the audience, and I tend to speak quite a lot in the headline slots. But there’s certainly an energy to festival slots that you never get on a live show and playing these big stages. I did a bunch of festivals in 2022 and was really lucky to play Belladrum then. I played Latitude in 2023, and Glastonbury in 2022.
I’m also playing at Kelburn this year, and another one that’s not been announced yet in Ireland called Under the Drum. I don’t actually know when that’s getting announced.
Well, I think you’ve just announced it!
Since your last release, A Hope and Fear, you’ve built a strong following in Scotland. What’s the journey been like for you? Has it been quite intense? Or has it kind of flown by?
Yeah, I think it has. So much work gets put into making a record and we did a lot of gigs around the release of that album. Lots of things have felt more solidified compared to my first album. It just really feels like I know who I am more as an artist with this new record. I know who I’m playing with, I know what sounds I want to explore. It’s been really nice to start to build up a catalogue of music and people. It’s nice speaking to people at gigs and they already have different reactions to these new tunes.
I won’t know for a while how people have reacted to it on a more personal level. I feel like I’m only just hearing at gigs how people reacted to my first album. But so many amazing stories have come out at gigs of people that have connected with the music, or it’s been part of their life in whatever way. So with the new album, I don’t know yet. It all still feels like it’s just sinking in and getting out there, which is exciting. So we’ll see, come back to me in maybe a year, a year and a half!
Looking back, how do you feel about that album now?
I feel really good about it. I love playing it live. That was always the plan with this record. I think my approach to song-writing has maybe changed slightly since then, but both of my albums are pretty personal. I had a big personal journey around that album. It was written about lots of mental health stuff that I worked through. I feel like I’ve maybe moved away from that slightly, not going quite so deep into what I’m up to or what’s going on in my life.
I was gonna ask about how your approach to song-writing has changed next, but I suppose it’s always changing?
Yeah, for sure. It always changes. I think with that album, I had stuff going on in my own life paired with the world coming out of the tricky COVID times. And although people were struggling a lot, there was kind of this excitement in the air about the world being open again. And also for myself, so much happened for me personally and career-wise in that year. So I feel like it’s full of a lot of youthful excitement and joy. Not that I don’t still have that! But I’m always striving to keep some hope and positivity in my songs. But yeah, they’re maybe not quite as full of joy as that album!
Nothing wrong with a sad song! Looking ahead now to the rest of 2025, you’ve already given some hints about what’s on the horizon for you, but is there anything else exciting coming up that you want to share?
Yeah, the gigs are a big part of what’s happening this year, but we’ve also been planning new music! The approach for the next year or so is to do loads of singles. I don’t know exactly what’s going to happen with them yet, but I think a lot of experimentation is key. We want to explore different sounds and just have fun with it!
I’m also collaborating with a lot of exciting artists that I won’t say yet! But it’s a good feeling having two albums under my belt now. That’s like the bedrock of my songs and the live set. And these singles are a way for me to just try loads of different things out. So, who knows what will happen — we’ll see!
Sounds like you’ll be busy either way! Are there any artists or genres that have been inspiring you recently?
This is one of those questions, as soon as someone asks me, I forget all the music that I’ve ever listened to! I’ve been listening to loads of Sharon Van Etten recently. I’ve been listening to her forever, but in the last year or so, I feel like I’ve really doubled down my obsession with her music. Leiff Vollebekk has been inspiring me a lot recently, too. Really soulful, beautiful songs — I’ve been listening to him a lot. Angie McMahon has been a big one for the last couple of years, her record that came out last year is probably one of my favourite albums that has ever come out. I think those are my top three at the minute probably.
Looking back on your journey so far, what’s one piece of advice you’d give to your younger self, or anyone else starting out in music?
I think just keep going. Keep pushing. It’s so difficult to keep up momentum and keep up your own inspiration, but keep a hold of that feeling of excitement that you get. The feeling before you’ve released anything, before you’ve played a gig. You write a song in your bedroom and, maybe you record it or maybe you don’t, maybe you just put it on your phone and then you listen back to it and you’re like, ‘oh, this is cool’. Or you show it to your friend and then they’re really excited by it. That feeling, hold onto that, and try not to worry too much about anything else.
There’s so many other things about being a musician; like social media, marketing, the business side of it, which can be tiring. There has been times when I’ve thought about giving up because it’s just very difficult to be an independent artist sometimes, especially now. So, hold on to that feeling. I had it yesterday, I made a demo on my sofa to my laptop. It sounded terrible, but I was listening to it and that excitement; it was great, I had it back, I still have it.
What’s one thing you hope people will take away from your music?
Oh, good question. I think a big reason I got into it was in my early teens, I became obsessed with songwriting and getting lost in other people’s worlds through songwriting. It brought me a lot of solace as an anxious 13-year-old, not really sure what was going on in the world or where I fit. At that time of my life, it was a good way to process emotion and accompany me through hard times.
Any time someone has said something remotely similar about my songs for them, it means the absolute world that would happen in full circle. Even on a much less deep level, people have told me that they’ve spent loads of time in their kitchen dancing about to my music, and that’s equally as important. If it’s touched you or helped you in any way or you’ve enjoyed it, that’s what it should all be about.
Yeah, that must be a strange but nice feeling to think that people anywhere could be listening to your music or yours could be their favourite album and you have no idea!
Yeah, it is. It is strange, but also really sweet when people tell me that, and just the thought of people in these places I’ve never been to enjoying it, no matter how deeply, it’s lovely.
Before I let you go, is there anything else you’d like to add ahead of the tour?
One thing that’s different this year is that we’ve made a decision that all these gigs we’re doing are self-promoted. I’ve been working with different promoters over the years and it’s great, but the overheads with the cost of touring crisis mean everyone’s struggling to make ends meet. I was starting to feel like it just wasn't viable for me to go out on the road because I can’t pay for expenses. So, I’m starting to build a sustainable system around touring, which is what’s really needed right now because it’s so hard for artists to tour at the minute. I just can’t afford to do it that way. We’re giving it a shot this year. I don’t know how it’s going to go because it’s quite a big risk, but I feel really excited about the fact that we’re trying to do this ourselves and work with what we have and market it ourselves!
With a tour on the horizon and countless songs yet to be written, 2025 is shaping up to be another landmark year for Lewis. If his journey so far is any indication, there’s plenty more to come — and it’s bound to be worth the listen.
So, if you haven’t already, now’s the time to tune in because something tells me Lewis McLaughlin is only just getting started.