After stepping away from the spotlight for 2 years, Lewis Capaldi is back with the emotional new single, "Survive," and back with us at the Hard Rock Hotel New York for an Audacy Check In.

Lewis stepped into a room full of fans earlier this month for a 'NEW Music Session' with New York's NEW 102.7, and sat down with Mike Adam to talk about his return, the meaning behind his new music, creating boundaries for his mental health, and more.

"Survive" is such a statement song to return with for Capaldi, after stepping away to protect his own mental health, but it wasn't his first time putting pen to paper during his hiatus. "No, it wouldn't have been the first song I wrote," he shares inside the Hard Rock Hotel. "I wasn't really writing for the sake of [coming back], I was just writing to write, and maybe I'd write for other people, because there was a point where this wasn't necessarily on the cards coming back."

"It came quite late, and in terms of the songs that will be coming out this year," Lewis continues, "it was definitely a catalyst for a lot of stuff, this song."

It's definitely different this time for Capaldi, who has taken several steps to protect his mental health in this new era. "I do a lot less, a lot less work," he admits, no longer trying to jam every opportunity into a trip. "In America before I would squeeze everything into any day I had free, and now I'm chilling a little bit more."

"I do therapy every week. I'm on medication for my Tourette's and stuff," Lewis reveals. "I'm just trying to be less, to have fun."

"I go outside more now. I didn't realize how much time I spent indoors looking at my phone, and trust me, I still look at that phone. I love looking at that phone," Capaldi explains. "I live near a big green space in London and I go there quite a lot and lie down and sort of fall asleep outside. Really enjoying falling asleep outside at the minute."

Another step the "Someone You Loved" singer has taken is to stop setting goals for himself, and to take it more moment by moment. "I'm trying not to set goals anymore," Lewis responses to a fan-asked question. "I'm not saying being goal oriented is a bad thing, but for me, I became quite obsessed with like hitting markers and doing this and I need to do this thing, and if I don't do this thing, this has been a failure, or if I don't do this thing, I've not worked hard enough. For me right now, the goal is just to get back, play some songs, have a good time, release music, have fun, and, yeah, I guess the goal is to just enjoy myself and be back here doing it. I kind of achieved the goal by being here."

To hear much more from Lewis Capaldi check out the full Audacy Check In above.