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Lemar has been gone for a while – sort of. Rather, he’s been out of sight, but he’s been toiling away with other work in recent years. Finally, the time has come for him to step out on his own once again.
“It feels really good,” Lemar exclusively said of making a comeback. Speaking to Express.co.uk over Zoom late last year, he explained that getting back on stage was not the main source of fear for his comeback. Instead, it was baring his heart and soul in a new album. “I had a few nerves around releasing new music, which I did this year,” he confirmed. But, thankfully, he had nothing to worry about.
Lemar’s seventh album, Page In My Heart, hit store shelves back in March 2023, and it marked his highest-charting album in the last decade. But It’s easy to see why he was so nervous. The record was his first in eight years – the longest period he has ever gone without releasing a new album.
After almost two decades of the pop star grind (write music, release an album, tour, repeat), the former Fame Academy star admitted he wanted “a bit of a pause”.
“My first six or seven albums… it was all back-to-back every single year,” he said with a sigh. “Every year you’re writing 60 songs and breaking it down to 12… you can burn out a little bit.”
Eventually, after releasing his 2015 record The Letter, Lemar decided he “needed a bit of a break”. After that: “Life took over.”
“A few other interests came in,” he said. “I did a bit of travelling, did a bit of writing for other people, then someone reminded me the 20-year anniversary [of his first album] was coming up and I thought, you know what? Let’s go back into that bag, see what’s there and write a few more.” With glee, he added: “And Page In My Heart was born.”
The record, Lemar noted, was “received really well,” but his writing process filled him with bouts of dread. “It can be a bit harrowing,” he went on. “And, over the years, in order for it to mean something to you you need to get a little bit deeper each time.
“With this album taking the time that it did, I think it allowed me to be a little bit more honest than I was on previous albums. As the writer, you can hear it’s very raw in that moment, and you can really recall why you wrote certain songs. It’s personal and it can be a little bit daunting.”
Things change when Lemar finally sees his fans in person, though. “Once you perform it,” he said. “You realise the person listening doesn’t know fully – you hope they can relate! – but the actual reasons why… they’ve drawn their own reasons.”
Lemar played a few live shows throughout 2023, and instantly got the itch to continue performing live music. In September, he announced a full tour – The Closer Tour – taking place in April this year, including one massive show at London’s Adelphi Theatre.
He teased what fans – new and old – could expect from his upcoming shows: “It’s going to be good. When people come out they want to hear the hits, the new stuff… I like telling some stories and filling people up on my journey in general. I’m going to do the hits, I’m going to make sure that what people want to hear is definitely in there.”
Tickets are still available for Lemar’s Closer Tour – you can buy yours here.
