The London-born, Athens-based artist is due to release his long-awaited second album “An Inbuilt Fault” May 5th on Partisan Records.
The news comes with a new single “CSI: Petralona,” co-produced by Westerman and James Krivchenia (Big Thief). The single reveals how through the process of writing the upcoming album, finding textures became a central concern for Westerman, and the vocals are featured rawer and drier in the mix than previously, supported by rich three or four-part vocal harmonies.
“I had the riff for the song and left it lying around with a bunch of other bits and pieces” remembers Westerman. “A friend told me Tom Waits has this image of having a musical junk drawer of old parts that you haven’t found anything to do with. It came from there.”
The album shows the artist at his most adventurous and honest yet, more sonically daring than previous releases. Work started solo on the release, in isolation in Italy in 2020 and 2021, then a chance meeting with Big Thief’s James Krivchenia in London changed this.
Westerman collaborated with the drummer and an extended crew of LA associates to pad out his new songs. The result is kind of a mini-epic about crisis, stitched together from fragments of songs; moments of musical exorcism, telling a story that takes clearer shape with repeated listens.
