Released in November last year, Irish singer, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist Cian Ducrot’s fragile, heart-wrenching ballad “I’ll Be Waiting” is shaping up to be one of 2023’s biggest songs. Fueled by fan power on TikTok – where Ducrot has 3.1m followers and over 71.1m likes, with a recent viral video of Ducrot performing a surprise gig on public transport hitting 56m plays – “I’ll Be Waiting” has started to take on a life of its own, steadily climbing the UK Top 40 and currently sitting pretty at number 22. It’s also currently charting in five other countries, and on Spotify in 19 territories worldwide. A plain-speaking, emotionally eloquent, universal ballad, “I’ll Be Waiting” carries a specific meaning for its heart-on-his-sleeve writer. “It’s a story of waiting for someone you love to show up, but they tend to not show up when you need them,” he explains. For the classically-trained Ducrot, songwriting has always been cathartic: “I just really love emotional music. That’s what I’m drawn to.” This was evident on last year’s breakthrough single, All For You, which spent four months in the UK top 40 and peaked at 19. Its success – assisted by a duet with previous touring partner Ella Henderson – lead to him announcing his own UK and Europe tour, which has now completely sold out.