Will Joseph Cook interview: Rising indie pop hero goes deep with new album Something To Feel Good About

Published date27 November 2020
But for the 23-year-old, it’s a defiant statement – a chapter of optimism as he overcomes a personally difficult period and looks forward with heady positivity.

“I wrote it because it’s very defiantly optimistic rather than a throwaway ‘hey, this is something to feel good about’”, Will told Daily Star Online. “It was something to feel good about in spite of everything. The songwriting theme across all of them is maybe tackling not the happiest situations but finding the thing that is most joyous within that, or focusing on the positive that’s come of it.”

It’s a brave but justified and rewarding step for the rising London-based talent following the release of his acclaimed indie pop debut Sweet Dreamer in 2017.

Dropped over two parts via his own Bad Hotel label, Something To Feel Good About is a snapshot of an artist growing in confidence and breaking boundaries with his songwriting themes.

Written and recorded between LA and London, the songs are darker, more personal, but lose none of the dynamic pop sensibilities that make Cook one of the UK’s most promising acts.

It saw him delve into The Eels’ Beautiful Freak and Darwin Deez’s debut record for sonic inspiration, resulting in blossoming tracks like album opener Be Around Me and the sun-soaked, sun-soaked single Driverless Cars.

Its second half winds into more tender, heartfelt moments as he puts his vulnerabilities to the fore across DOWNDOWNDOWN!, Boundary Street and poignant closer Last Year, while retaining a comforting sense of hope.

“The shift in my songwriting style on this album was trying to make it a lot more personal and a lost more honest and biographical”, he adds. “That was spawned out of hearing a few albums that when I was feeling not so great, they were real guiding lights for me. I really appreciated hearing other artists speak in a frank and modern context, of certain feelings or experiences. I wanted to offer that to someone.”

Daily Star Online’s Rory McKeown sat down with Cook to talk about Something To Feel Good About’s writing and recording process, overcoming challenges, its influences, his independent label Bad Hotel, and his evolution.

Hi Will. How would you sum up your 2020 How’ve you dealt with lockdown and the challenges it may have brought

“It’s been a mixed bag. Relatively for me it’s been fine. It’s just not been what I expected. I was pessimistic to begin with. I didn’t think it was going to be over as quickly as people would have liked it to be. I feel that early on I gave up on the idea of touring and thought about other cool ideas I could do.

“I was doing these monologue videos and extra bit of content that add colour to what I’m trying to say with the album. I would say overall it’s been pretty good. It’s had some unexpected things, like one of the songs went viral off the album, which is cool. It’s been alright.”

Have you enjoyed the different paths of creativity that’s come with lockdown

“For the title track, Something To Feel Good About, that was the music video that had to be made in the heart of lockdown. Me and my girlfriend shot it respectively on our phones and the video is in split screen. The whole thing is a FaceTime call. Things like that were pretty sweet, having to lean into a concept you weren’t anticipating. It put a song into a new light.”

You’re about to release your second album Something To Feel Good About. What was its writing and recording process like When it you start the process

“I’ve been working on it for the best part of two years. When it finally clicked it came together pretty quickly. I did most of it in 2019 over two and half months in between here and Los Angeles, which is where the producer and collaborator Matt Parad lives.

“I...

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