'Every Instrument Is a Toy for Play'

"Consider, for example, the photograph that graces the cover of his forthcoming album, Mark William Lewis. As soon as he saw the image - shot last spring by veteran rock photographer Steve Gullick - "I knew that felt like the world I was trying to describe in my mind's eye," Lewis says. "It's a bit murky. There's an uncanniness to it.""

"An undeniably cinematic image, it could be a promotional still from some new arthouse horror hit. Which is fitting, because Lewis recently became the first artist the film studio A24 has signed to its nascent record label, A24 Music, outside of a soundtrack context. Though he may seem like he came out of nowhere, Lewis, a product of South London's thriving DIY scene, has been working toward this for a long time."

"This is not your first album. I find it interesting when artists put out a self-titled album that's not their debut. It signals that this is a redefining moment, a reinvention of what their music means. What made you decide to title the record after yourself? The simple answer is that nothing else felt right. This felt right, firstly. And then I started thinking about what it signifies, which is, like you said, a kind of announcement: This is me; this is my sound"

Mark William Lewis creates moody, grayscale songs that evoke a slightly warped, uncanny world. The album cover photograph by Steve Gullick matched that murky cinematic vision. The image reads like an arthouse horror promotional still, fitting his status as the first non-soundtrack artist signed to A24 Music. Lewis emerged from South London's DIY scene and has long cultivated a gruff, early-30s singer-songwriter persona. His tunes are gloomily impressionistic, swathed in reverb and urban malaise, influenced by poetry and magical-realist literature. He chose a self-titled album because nothing else felt right and to announce his definitive sound.

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