Born in London, now based in Athens, Greece, Westerman’s debut album, Your Hero Is Not Dead, knocked my socks off when it arrived in 2020. The songwriter melded folk, R&B and the sort of bare synthpop that always makes me lose my mind a bit, to create a collection of songs that were a balm in a year where it felt like the entirety of human civilisation – and I include myself in this – were losing their fucking minds.

On May 5th, Westerman returns, with his new album, An Inbuilt Fault. It’s more of the same, while also being really unlike much of his work that has come prior. One thing is for sure, the songwriter is one of the most interesting voices – philosophically and literally – the scene has to offer right now. NB: forgive the audio on this episode being a bit wonky in places – I think the string connecting our polystyrene cups got a bit tangled between here and there. Stick with it, I think it’s worth it.  

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