London's Westerman folds prog curiosity into hushed art pop, drawing comparisons to Arthur Russell, Talk Talk, and Nick Drake.
MOODS · contemplative · understated · cerebral · atmospheric · introspective
BIOGRAPHY
Westerman is the stage name of British singer-songwriter Will Westerman, who hails from Hammersmith, London. He emerged in the late 2010s with a run of releases defined by intricate, soft-rock-inflected production, signing to Partisan Records and working within the art pop tradition.
His debut album Your Hero Is Not Dead (2020), recorded in Lisbon and London with producer Nathan Jenkins (Bullion), earned strong critical notice for pairing whimsical curiosity with technical proficiency while exploring uncertainty and self-interrogation. He followed it with An Inbuilt Fault (2023), produced with Marta Salogni, which led Billboard to name him an indie artist of the month. His third album, A Jackal's Wedding (2025), draws on the experience of being a newcomer in Athens and the particular quality of light there.
WHY THEY'RE COOL
Westerman writes the kind of understated, prog-tinged pop that rewards close listening: critics have placed him alongside Arthur Russell, Talk Talk, and Nick Drake for his cerebral, unhurried songcraft. Pitchfork called his debut excellent, and NME described it as an entrancing exploration of the psyche that considers human fallibility. That record's steady evolution into An Inbuilt Fault, made with acclaimed producer Marta Salogni, and into the Athens-inspired A Jackal's Wedding, shows an artist deliberately expanding his palette album by album rather than repeating a formula.
GEORGE'S PLAYS
First time on the station.
PLAYED ON WOKE1
