Newcastle-born, Paris-based folk-indie songwriter Tom Hancock has released his deeply personal and sonically adventurous debut album, Innate Subjects. Recorded in Paris and produced alongside Saving Felix, the album marks a bold expansion of contemporary folk, blending heartfelt lyricism with ambient textures, electronic beats, and subtle synths to create a sound that is both intimate and exploratory.
Rooted in the vibrant creative community of the Listen Marianne Collective, co-founded by Hancock and Saving Felix, the album spans eight tracks that explore the terrain of human experience: love, loss, change, guilt, and the quiet reckonings that shape our lives. Drawing on the influence of folk luminaries such as Nick Drake, Elliott Smith, and Sufjan Stevens, Hancock delivers music that is emotionally candid yet sonically daring.
The lead single, “Sycamore,” written in Autumn 2023, was inspired by the felling of the iconic Sycamore Gap tree and the unravelling of a significant personal relationship. Hancock intertwines these two events into a contemplative meditation on beauty, fragility, and human destructiveness, asking the question: why would someone destroy something so beautiful for seemingly no reason? Developed as part of his live repertoire and recorded with contributions from Taryn Everdeen and Saving Felix, the track will be accompanied by a music video shot at Sycamore Gap in December 2025.
Across the album, Hancock balances intimate storytelling with expansive production. The opening track, Skin on Skin, combines intricate fingerpicking with bold sonic choices, immediately setting the tone for a record that refuses to remain confined within traditional folk boundaries. In Signs of Change, high-tempo fingerpicking and raw vocal delivery convey the tension between acceptance and surrender during life-altering shifts. I Could Have Run examines regret and courage through the perspective of Russian dissident Alexei Navalny in his final moments, while Nothing delivers a quiet, devastating reflection on love lost, unspoken questions, and the ache of emotional distance.
Innate Subjects demonstrates Hancock’s ability to merge the intimacy of folk music with modern, cinematic production, creating a record that is reflective, immersive, and deeply human. The album captures both the vulnerability and resilience of navigating life’s complexities, inviting listeners to inhabit its songs as part of their own emotional journey.
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