Brighton-based indie folk-rock artist Will Hanco returns with his latest EP, Storm Before The Calm, a six-track release that marks his most personal and expansive project to date. Originally from Yorkshire, Hanco has steadily developed a sound built around intricate guitar work, atmospheric arrangements, and emotionally grounded songwriting, drawing influence from artists like Ben Howard, Bon Iver, and Gregory Alan Isakov while maintaining a style distinctly his own. Over recent years, he has gained recognition for blending intimate folk sensibilities with broader cinematic textures, creating music that feels reflective, immersive, and deeply human. With his newest EP Storm Before The Calm, Hanco steps into a new phase, one defined not only by sonic expansion, but by a deeper sense of purpose.
Across Storm Before The Calm, Hanco explores a wide emotional and sonic range through layered instrumentation and carefully detailed production. Delicate acoustic passages sit alongside driving percussion, ambient textures, slide guitar, and moments of swelling intensity that give the record a dynamic, lived-in feel. Opening track “Outlier” introduces the EP with expansive guitar work and rhythmic momentum, while lead single “Heaven Below” leans into emotionally charged indie-folk songwriting with a soaring, atmospheric quality. Elsewhere, “Remnant” slows things down with understated arrangements and melancholic tones, allowing Hanco’s baritone vocals to take center stage against ambient-laced instrumentation. Throughout the project, the balance between restraint and release becomes a defining part of its identity.
At its core, Storm Before The Calm was shaped during a deeply uncertain period in Hanco’s life following the sudden passing of his father. Written and self-produced in isolation, the EP became both a creative outlet and a way of processing grief, reflection, and personal change. Speaking about the project, Hanco explains: “This EP was written during a time where a lot in my life wasn’t certain. It came at a point where I felt disconnected from the outside world during my father’s passing, and I was trying to make sense of everything around me again, one day at a time. This EP was my only outlet in navigating how I was feeling, enabling me to reflect and put my next foot forward. It became an outlet for things I didn’t really know how to process at the time, and an honest body of work, and an important step forward.”
With Storm Before The Calm, Will Hanco delivers a project that feels both deeply personal and universally resonant, capturing a period of transition through immersive songwriting and thoughtful production.
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