SINGAPORE—British musician Will Joseph Cook kicks off the year by sharing his new track “4AM”, under Bad Hotel. This latest sonic offering is a wistful, brooding ode to a late-night call to a lover, giving off a slow burner, before eventually cracking open into an explosion of dizzying feelings, showcasing a new dimension to Cook’s songwriting.

“4AM” comes with a cinematic video shot in Spain, directed by frequent collaborator Bertie Gilbert. Cook explains, “Conceptually ‘4AM’ is this really overly poetic voicemail for someone you love. A rush of emotions you want to share but there’s no one up to hear them. I had initially written the verse as an acapella and then at home one night I built up the big instrumental chorus.”

He adds, “It wasn’t until I was actually recording some new music in Mexico that the track fully came to life. I was literally wide awake at 4am sending voice notes and those feelings gave me the rest of the song. I recorded so many sounds of the city from my apartment window that night–they’re all buried under the instruments.”

Photo credit: Fernando Cattori. Courtesy of Bad Hotel.

Cook is one of the UK’s brightest young talents, developing his multi-dimensional songwriting since he was just 14. He finds inspiration in everything from the youthful indie charms of Phoenix, Vampire Weekend and Darwin Deez to the diverse singer-songwriter tones of Benny Sings, Eels and Neil Young. To date, he has amassed over 120 million streams worldwide across all platforms and released his sophomore album in 2020 via his own label Bad Hotel, via The Vertex.

“We shot the video in Andalusia, Spain,” Cook shares about the track’s accompanying video. “The landscapes there are so beautiful and varied that you can capture so many different vibes across an hour’s drive. I actually did almost all the location scouting on Google Earth, trying to find little hidden gems. There was this mountain helicopter pad existing right next to the ruins of a 1700s mansion house, a towering pastel colored factory facing a beautiful beach/ocean view– so many interesting places. The song is a bit of an emotional whiplash and has this duality to it, all the spots we filmed in felt like that to me.”

“4AM” is the first taste of more new music to come from the 24 year-old musical tour de force in 2022, following the release of his 2020 sophomore album “Something To Feel Good About” which featured viral smash “Be Around Me”, finding huge success on TikTok with over 1.2 million videos made with the sound –and his 2017 debut “Sweet Dreamer”.

Photo credit: Liam Evans. Courtesy of Bad Hotel.

Cook’s version of “Be Around Me” with rising bedroom pop star Chloe Moriondo went viral on TikTok and has since been used in over a million videos on the app to date, that then entered Spotify’s Viral 50 Charts in Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.

Watch the video here: