Westerman Class of
r 2019
Weaving soft, warm electronics into folk songs about self-acceptance, Will Westerman is a songwriter whose music could help you more than you think. Words: Will Richards. Photos: Jenn Five.
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he rise of Will Westerman has been slow, steady and considered. Starting out writing folk songs inspired by the likes of Nick Drake and Neil Young from his West London bedroom, and releasing via prolific label Blue Flowers (also home to the silky, jazz-flecked likes of Nilüfer Yanya and Puma Blue), Westerman’s music has always carried an air of comfort about it. The dawn of 2018 marked a change with the release of simple but stunning single ‘Confirmation’. Followed by the equally impressive ‘Edison’
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and ’Easy Money’, the tracks saw Westerman's folk origins melted together with fluid, warm electronic elements - largely due to his work with producer Bullion. With it, he marked himself out as a singer-songwriter that sits left-of-centre, and turned a well-travelled rulebook into something fresh and unique. All this ambition is cast in stone on the singer’s ‘Ark’ EP. First single ‘Albatross’ is an oasis of calm. “Take me somewhere new, maybe a lake nearby some view / Wouldn’t that be nice?” he sings in a honeyed vocal, escaping to an easier, carefree place.
