Up-and-comer St. Lundi joined Mike Adam of New York’s NEW 102.7 to talk about his upcoming debut album, and how he took a chance by writing emotionally.

UK singer-songwriter St. Lundi is growing a massive fan base by the minute, and when listening to his music, it’s no wonder why. With only 5 songs currently released, the 21-year-old has already managed to strike a balance between deeply personal yet relatable music. And his latest release is a perfect example. “Different Houses” retells Lundi’s experience of his parent’s divorce, and how it influenced both himself and his entire family.

“My parents split up when I was 12,” he began. “And it's something that took quite a long time to get over. And I think being young and running away and all of this kind of stuff, I didn't process it.” Only after undergoing therapy, Lundi said, did he begin to work through some of the underlying trauma behind his family dynamics. From there, his openness about his parents’ divorce bled into his music, when he ultimately wrote ‘Different Houses.’

“I've been trying to write the song for two years,” Lundi explained. “It was one day, I was with this writer and I kind of said, ‘oh, we're still a family, we're just living in different houses.’ And then all of a sudden, it kind of, everything for the past ten years or twelve years made sense to me.”

And the lyrics reflect that sense of adult understanding, while still acknowledging the pain he felt as a child. “Feeling the tears run down my face / Holding my mother, trying to smile / Telling my father bye for a while” he sings in the pre-chorus, before reiterating the message his parents gave him in the chorus. “It'll be alright, even though you doubt it / We're still family, just living in different houses.”

“I'm sorry I made you cry as well” Lundi sheepishly joked with host Adam, who mentioned his own emotional reaction to the song.

But who could blame him? The brutally honest lyrics, combined with the ballad’s cascading guitar riffs, are guaranteed to make anyone choke up. Even Lundi admitted that his songwriting process “ends up being like a therapy session” to talk through some of his most vulnerable experiences. It was so personal to him, in fact, that he was nervous to do anything with the song lest it make its way back to the very family he wrote about.

“I didn't quite get the confidence to tell [my family] until I'd written the whole thing. And I think I had to live with it myself for two months before I sent it to my mum because I knew that my mum would… I knew it would have kind of hurt her to hear it,” the musician admitted in the interview. Yet, he believes the song has changed his family for the better, especially his relationship with his younger brother. “In the recent months and since that song's come out, I think it opened a channel of conversation between us where he feels comfortable talking to me.”

And even though Lundi noted that there's “always that scare” of writing too honestly, he finds it's more than worth the risk. “I think writing something that universally people can find their own story in is something that I love,” Lundi reflected.

Fans seem to love it too. His 2021 song “Nights Like These” has nearly 75 million streams and counting, with many of his musical similarities to Lewis Capaldi. “Can’t wait for the world to hear this. Proud of you!” one fan commented on the announcement of his upcoming debut album. The Island, which will include ‘Different Houses’, is set for release on May 10th, with UK and possible international tour dates to follow.

While St. Lundi surely welcomes all his fans’ praise, he fully plans to stay true to himself regardless of how his career, and music, may develop. He said, “I'm going to check myself every now and then that I'm still, I'm not making music just for other people and what I think they will like, but also for what I like now and what I would have liked five years ago.”

Listen to Mike Adam's full interview with St. Lundi above.

Words by Isabella Eaton Interview by Mike Adam