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Breakout British synth-pop artist Westerman has announced his signing to Partisan Records and has shared a new single, “Blue Comanche.” Last year, Paste named Westerman one of 15 New British Acts You Need to Know. “Blue Comanche” follows an impressive stretch of singles like “Confirmation” and “Easy Money,” and his 2018 Ark EP. He’s also announced a short North American tour in July with shows in Brooklyn, Toronto, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
“Blue Comanche” depicts the environment’s losing battle against capitalism, and although the song is set in a cyborg-filled dystopia, it’s strangely soothing. Westerman’s songs are often mystifying because he curates misty atmospherics out of minimal instrumentation and his simple, worldly voice. His downtempo guitar and synth compositions always assume a stylish and thoughtful form, and this new single is no exception.
Westerman added about his new track:
“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.
Listen to “Blue Comanche” below, and scroll down to watch Westerman’s Paste Studio session. Check out his upcoming tour dates further down.
Westerman Tour Dates:
June
04 – London, U.K. @ Hoxton Hall
July
22 – Brooklyn, N.Y. @ National Sawdust
25 – Toronto, Ont. @ The Garrison
30 – Los Angeles, Calif. @ Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever Cemetery
31 – San Francisco, Calif. @ The Independent