Not many songwriters can say they’ve been on Love Island. Maybe that isn’t the whole picture, but still, Bradley Marshall’s hit ‘Perfect For Me’ featured on a recent episode of the show – sparking a wholesome reaction from his surprised family (which you can see on his Instagram).

When the 24-year-old Dubliner is asked how he thinks he’d do on the programme, he’s less than optimistic.

“Not good, man,” he laughs. “Once that t-shirt comes off, no way.”

We all know that musical talent beats whatever it is people on Love Island do when it comes to courting the ladies. Marshall also stands out from the reality TV Ken dolls with his unwavering authenticity, which runs through his two new singles, ‘Save Your Heart’ and ‘Skin And Bones’.

“It’s a song about unrequited love,” he says of the former. “I was with this girl as a teenager and we’d always have these conversations of how we’ll be together forever; the houses we’re gonna buy, and how many kids we’re gonna have. Then all of a sudden, boom, that just goes away.

“They find somebody else and, you know, it just all happens so quick. The main line of the song was, ‘Tell me that you’re happy now, so I can save my heart for somebody else’.”

It’s typical of his approach to music, which has become a lens through which the chaos of his teenage years is brought into focus.

“I was up to all sorts and wasn’t really taking anything in,” Marshall says. “I was out partying and wasn’t really acknowledging what was happening. As I got older, I started to reflect on that, and that was the starting point for my songwriting, really.”

Beyond his personal introspection, Marshall’s rousing pop has had a serious impact on the lives of some listeners.

“Someone told me they were about to crash into a wall. They stopped the car when they heard my song ‘You’ll Be Okay’ and that I saved their lives. You can’t get any better than things like that.  As you write more and release more, you really see and believe how powerful a piece of music can be.”

And with an EP lined up for the summer, he’s been writing plenty, including with Red Triangle, the team behind his hero James Arthur’s hits. Recent sessions have taken Marshall to London and Nashville, and he gets a Chesire Cat grin on his face when recalling all the square dancing, cowboy hats, hot chicken and bar crawls.

It’s a long way from his upbringing in Tallaght, where a love of music wasn’t always well-received among his classmates (who have subsequently been sliding into the singer’s DMs to congratulate him on his success).

“I grew up in a place where it’s quite tough,” Marshall reveals. “In school, I used to sing and I was getting slagged, because apparently men don’t sing. It’s crazy, you’d be called ‘gay’ for singing, which just doesn’t really make sense at all.

“I’m trying to speak about that on my music recently – to write about how hard it is for men nowadays to speak up and be themselves. Because there’s this thing going around, and it’s been going around for as long as I’ve been living anyway, that boys shouldn’t cry and get upset.

“With Adolescence coming out, toxic masculinity has become a really big topic at the moment. I want to be able to say to other men out there that it’s okay, and that talking obviously gets so much weight off your shoulders.”

• ‘Save Your Heart’ and ‘Skin And Bones’ are out now.