* En anglais uniquement
The songs of
Will Joseph Cook are recognizable for their enticing vocal hooks, summery melodies, and a bright, quirky pop production evident across his recordings. He made his full-length debut in 2017 with
Sweet Dreamer.
Hailing from Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England,
Cook developed a taste for music in his early teens when his interest was spurred by the enthusiastic nature of his father, who took
Cook to as many live gigs as he could. From performances by
Vampire Weekend and
MGMT to
Everything Everything, the shows soon inspired the young creative to pen his own lyrics and tunes. After some time teaching himself music production basics with MIDI systems and figuring out a specific sound palette for his work,
Cook eventually shared his first EP, You Jump, I Run, online in 2015. Littered with charting-single vigor, the release soon topped a million streams, attracting the attention of Atlantic Records.
After some sold-out shows across London and an appearance on the BBC Introducing stage at the Glastonbury Festival, he delivered his second EP,
Proof Enough, on Atlantic in mid-2015.
Cook soon drew comparisons from critics to everyone from
King Krule to
Talking Heads and was praised for his affinity for fun, summery pop anthems. The track "Beach," in particular, began to receive widespread airplay in both the U.K. and the U.S., earning
Cook a place at the SXSW festival and a support slot for one of his inspirations,
Everything Everything. This resulted in members of the latter producing remixes of some of the tracks that appeared on his
Proof Enough EP. The following year, he co-produced his first full-length for Atlantic with
Hugh Worskett (
Birdy,
Rae Morris) and
Bombay Bicycle Club's
Jack Steadman. The album, entitled
Sweet Dreamer, saw release in early 2017.
Parting ways with Atlantic,
Cook started his own label, Bad Hotel, which delivered his second long-player, Something to Feel Good About, in 2020. It was produced with Matt Parad (
Max Pope,
Olivia O'Brien). ~ Rob Wacey & Marcy Donelson