Brighton-based indie folk-rock artist Will Hanco has released his six-track EP Storm Before The Calm, the most personal and fully realised work in his catalogue so far. Originally from Yorkshire, he has carved out a name through layered songwriting built on precise fingerpicking, steady rhythmic drive and an airy baritone carrying faint ‘80s textures. Influences from Ben Howard, Hozier, Bon Iver and Gregory Alan Isakov surface in the way he folds intimate folk details into wider atmospheres rooted in nature imagery and lyrics. Recognition has followed quickly across the UK, landing BBC Introducing Track of the Day and sync spots on Netflix’s Love Is Blind and BBC One’s The One Show, signalling an artist now stepping forward with expanded sound and sharper intent.
Delicate, close-mic’d vocals anchor the arrangements against overlapping acoustic and electric guitars, slide lines, ambient layers and percussion that adds orchestral depth. Volume swings define the feel, sliding from restrained, inward moments into exposed peaks where the voice turns rasped and urgent. ‘Outlier’ opens with propulsive percussion and broad guitar strokes that keep momentum tight, while lead single ‘Heaven Below’ distils everything Hanco does best: melodic clarity, emotional weight and production choices that feel lived-in yet refined, securing his place in indie folk while quietly stretching its edges.
The entire project took shape in the months after his father’s sudden death, when isolation turned the bedroom studio into both sanctuary and workspace. Hanco managed every detail himself, from initial ideas through final mix, transforming private processing into a connected, resonant statement. At its centre Storm Before The Calm moves beyond grief alone into the act of carrying on, documenting a decisive season while setting up whatever arrives next. With steady national support and a voice that stays grounded in real experience, Will Hanco emerges in 2026 as one of the UK’s most convincing new presences in indie folk.
Will Hanco had this to say: “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.”
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