“Westerman’s songwriting takes in the tumult of a whirring mind and turns it into music that has the power to soothe modern anxieties, if not solve them” Pitchfork
“Developing imperfect ideas into something brilliant” Noisey
“Manages to delicately balance melodic complexity and a variety of different instruments in a way that sounds not just easy, but effortless” Dazed
Today, West London’s Westerman announces his signing to Play It Again Sam and shares his first release on the label. ‘Blue Comanche‘ is a beautifully evocative three-minute song, Westerman’s lyrics cutting deeper as guitar strings and buoyant synths slowly blossom into the atmospheric pop world he introduced on his critically-acclaimed Ark EP. Listen HERE.
Speaking of the song, Westerman says, “Blue Comanche is about the inevitability of environmental loss as a consequence of modernization. I’m not a Luddite, I don’t think we should go back to the Stone Age or anything, but there’s still something profoundly sad about what’s being lost.
I find party politics frustrating because it’s so cyclical. I’m obsessed with ethics, and politics and ethics can be bad bedfellows. I’m political in a solitary way. There are issues that I think are important and occupy my thoughts, but I struggle with organized politics. In the party system, there’s inevitable compromise and concession, which is frustrating. That’s why I like writing, you can say what you want without any dilution.
I wanted this to be a calming song though, not angry. Today it’s so easy to live in an echo chamber of bad news, but if you look hard you can still see individual acts of kindness everywhere. You have to be engaged and stay sensitive to suffering, but it’s not constructive to live in that space all the time.”
Westerman’s music is graceful and self-reflective, but more than this he leaves enough space in his songs to evoke questions about modern anxieties and what’s at the essence of being human. The latest song continues Westerman’s journey from pop maverick to one of the most vital voices coming out of the UK. Alongside the track, he is announcing a string of shows in New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, San Francisco plus a date in London at Hoxton Hall on June 4th, 2020. Tickets will go on sale on Friday, January 17th at 10 AM local time and will be available via www.westerman.world.
Listen to ‘Blue Comanche‘ above, find full tour routing below and stay tuned for more from Westerman coming soon.
‘Blue Commanche‘ by Westerman is out now, buy/stream it here.
Photograph by Bex Day.
WESTERMAN WORLD TOUR DATES
4 June – Hoxton Hall – London, UK
22 July – National Sawdust – Brooklyn, NY
26 July – The Garrison – Toronto, ON
30 July – Masonic Lodge, Hollywood Forever Cemetary – Los Angeles, CA
31 July – The Independent – San Francisco, CA