Lewis Watson

London-based singer/songwriter Lewis Watson launched his recording career as a teenager in 2010 by posting understated cover versions of songs he admired to a low-profile YouTube channel. His understated acoustic guitar work framed a powerful, faintly soul-inflected vocal delivery across interpretations of material by the Knife, Bombay Bicycle Club, Bon Iver, and additional artists, after which he began posting successful original material.

Live appearances in support of established performers soon followed, and a concert alongside his former instructor Joe Porter led the latter to supply production assistance for Watson’s initial studio recordings. Those rapid sessions produced four tracks issued in 2012 as the playfully named EP It’s Got Four Sad Songs on It BTW. Strong interest in the release prompted multiple labels to approach Watson, culminating in a Warner Bros. deal that placed him on festival stages, Billboard charts, and an expanding audience. Momentum from the first EP prompted a swift follow-up, Another Four Sad Songs, issued only months later.

Activity accelerated as Watson prepared a third EP, now working with prominent songwriters and producers such as Richard Wilkinson (Kaiser Chiefs) and Mr. Hudson together with guest musicians including Arctic Monkeys and Florence and the Machine. Early 2013 saw the arrival of that EP, Wild, which again comprised four melancholic songs yet displayed increased assurance and more polished production. Two further EPs appeared in 2013, paving the way for the full-length debut The Morning in July 2014; the album featured richer arrangements and was also offered in a deluxe edition compiling every prior release.

After ending his association with Warner Music, Watson concentrated on new compositions. Once a substantial catalog had accumulated he returned to the studio and, after signing with the established independent Cooking Vinyl, delivered his second album, Midnight, in early 2017; an entirely acoustic rendering of the same record appeared later that year. His third album, The Love That You Want, took shape over twelve months with Wilkinson, by then a reliable collaborator and co-shaper of Watson’s sonic identity, and reached listeners in May 2020 via Cooking Vinyl.