Lewis Capaldi reveals pseudonyms for “dud” songwriting credits

Lewis Capaldi has revealed the two pseudonyms he uses for occasional songwriting credits – Anita Jobby and Sooka Phatwan – which he uses for songs that he considers to be “duds”.

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Capaldi joked about the fake names in a new appearance on The Graham Norton Show, where he sat down for an interview on Friday (January 6). “I’ve been writing songs for other people and most of them have been tragic failures,” he quipped on the show (via Metro), noting that he opts not to use his own name “in case they’re absolute fucking duds”.

As for why he swung for those particular names, Capaldi explained that Anita Jobby is topical because “in Scotland, if you go for a shite, you go for a jobby”. Sooka Phatwan, on the other hand, makes sense because “I think when you look at me you think, ‘Sooka Phatwan’”.

Though he’s well known for his cheeky humour, Capaldi does in fact write songs under the aforementioned pseudonyms. One of them – ‘Never Really Loved Me’ by Norwegian producer Kygo and Australian singer Dean Lewis, credited in part to Anita Jobby – actually earned some success last year, peaking at Number 14 on the Norwegian charts as well as Number 16 in Sweden and Number 100 in Switzerland.

Touching on the track’s success, Capaldi said: “That one actually did well, so… Fuck.” He added that he’s “yet to have any cuts” as Sooka Phatwan, but is “really holding out hope” for a hit in the near future. “Any budding artists out there who want to Sooka Phatwan,” he said directly to the camera, “give me a call. We all know how you get ahead in this business.”

Meanwhile, Capaldi is gearing up to release his second album, ‘Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent’, on May 19. The follow-up to 2019’s  ‘Divinely Uninspired To A Hellish Extent’ has thus far been previewed with two singles, ‘Forget Me’ and ‘Pointless’. He’ll promote the album with a tour of the UK and Europe starting later this month, as well as headlining this year’s Reading & Leeds Festival in August.

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