Joe Hicks Talks “Before It Gets Dark,” Exclusive Interview & Album Review

UK singer-songwriter Joe Hicks launches into 2026 with his new studio album “Before It Gets Dark,” due on March 27, 2026. This feature brings together an exclusive interview with Joe and a full review of the new record.

Before it all, however, I will share the press release with you:

“Powered by driving drums, pulsing keyboards, and soaring electric guitar riffs, this indie-rock anthem fuses the punch of power pop with the nuance of art pop. Written in the immediate aftermath of a breakup, “More to Me” became the album’s starting point, capturing the raw disorientation of heartbreak and setting the tone for the record’s emotional thread.

Joe: “After a breakup you’re often unaware of how the other person is dealing with it. Silence leaves you guessing and feeling like you’re the only one suffering while they’re fine. This song is about breaking free from the invisible hold they still have, the echoes of a life that no longer exists.”

The track grew heavier and more intense as Joe developed it alongside co-writers Tom Millar and Sam Winfield and came alive in an unexpected way through a scenic February car journey.

Joe: “For the first time ever, a melody and lyrics came to me without a guitar in my hand – totally the opposite to how I normally work, so I had to write music to a vocal, rather than the other way around. Lyrically the theme survived and grew from that winter drive.”

The new album “Before It Gets Dark” is a cathartic set of songs written and created as a means to an end for Joe as he came to terms with an immense grief. For anyone who’s had to deal with heavy loss in their lives, the new album offers a helping hand and hopefully some comfort in its music.

Joe: “The album is about feeling beaten down by modern society, uncertainty, and by the things life can throw at you. It deals with the death of my dad, a breakup, and the darker songs are from the somewhat nihilistic ‘life is meaningless’-perspective of the world that I slipped into following those events. This record is about coming through that and looking forward; wanting to see the world before it gets dark.”

Next up in this feature is my interview with Joe Hicks that was completed in the week before the album release:

An album today is a major undertaking in an era where too often we listen on the move in quick bites on Tik Tok or Instagram…how long were you working on it, and was there a moment when you thought ‘I have enough here for an album!’

Joe: After making my debut album “The Best I Could Do at the Time” I was always going to follow that up with another one. The experience both proved to me that I could make an album, and made me fall in love with the process and undertaking involved. At the beginning of 2024 I was very much in the depths of grief. Luckily Sam Winfield and Tom Millar – long time collaborators and old friends of mine who both produced this album – were fully aware and determined to pull me out of it. On February ‘24 they sat me down at the studio and basically said, “you’ve got to channel this into new music, and we’re going to start now, whatever it takes.” The bulk of the writing happened over the first 6-8 months of that year, and then we recorded on and off until May 2025. It probably wasn’t until the early part of 2025, when I managed to crack the code on the final few songs of lyrics, that I could see the finished album pulling into view.

Your debut album came out in 2022, do you see this album as an extension of that album, a close relative, or is it moving into pastures new?

Joe: It feels related in the sense that it’s still me, I’m still playing guitar and singing, and there are certainly one or two songs that could have fit on that first album. But overall, I was in a very different headspace writing this, and stylistically we took things to a number of new places. There’s a lot more collaboration on “Before It Gets Dark.” The song ideas didn’t all start from me this time, and that led to occasionally writing on top of a harmonic bed that felt new and an exciting challenge. Songs like “The Architect,” where Tom had the initial guitar idea, led me to a very different place as a lyricist and melody writer, and that in turn helped channel different emotions. In the studio we were in the mindset of treating each song in isolation – taking chances on sounds and giving every idea a chance to shine. I’m proud of how we didn’t waiver and hopefully that led to each song having its own identity.

“Time is a Thief” is probably the most commercial, but “If Only” was an early favourite of mine – dreamy, romantic and with a late night feel – lie back with the headphones on and lose yourself…can you tell me a bit about that one, do you like it too?

Joe: Thank you very much! That’s great to hear. Yes, I love that song, both for how it turned out, but also for how it came into the world. “If Only” is an example of something that seems to only happen to me once every 3 or 4 years. A song that came to me fully formed in under an hour. The kind that makes me agree with Keith Richards that songs are not solely created by the writer, but rather channeled through them, that we are conduits for songs already floating around in the universe. “If Only” itself began as a guitar melody that came to me as I went outside first thing in the morning with a guitar and a coffee. Initially I thought it would be destined to live forever in my voice notes, nothing more. But something in it kept bugging me, so I had to see if there was more to it. The lyrics came out almost in one go not long after. Lyrically it’s a love song with a twist. It’s aching heartbreak in a love song’s clothing. It’s looking back fondly on all the positive parts of a relationship that you didn’t want to end,the only parts you seem to remember when struggling the most with it being over. The ending of the song reveals the heart longing to have it back, wondering ‘if only’ things had worked out differently.

“Rollercoaster” is another interesting track, it changes direction a bit, has a different underlying beat with a little bit of a funky groove! Do you work with the same musicians as a regular team, or do you have different people in the studio when you are playing live?

Joe: Thank you! That song came, funnily enough, out of the depths of my voice notes archive from about 3 years prior to making this album. I was scrolling back looking for something else and stumbled upon the main guitar part. It felt like a different flavour to add to the album pot and massively benefitted from the feel of Ed Broad on drums and Joshua Rigal on bass guitar. It was Ed’s idea that I should put a guitar solo on the song, so he added a lot. In the studio it’s predominantly Tom, Sam and I that cover most things. On this album we had Joshua, Ed, and then Ben Winfield provided the string arrangements. Live, the core is very much the same, which means the show benefits from having musicians that really know the songs. I’m also lucky to work with a few great bass players and drummers who each add their own style to the music and keep it fresh.

I read in the press info on the album – “It deals with the death of my dad, a break-up, and the darker songs are from the somewhat nihilistic ‘life is meaningless’-perspective of the world that I slipped into following those events” -and yet, the album as a whole I slipped into quite happily, I didn’t feel it was nihilistic, I left feeling happy to be honest – is that wrong of me?

Joe: Absolutely not! I love that that was your experience of the album because that’s always been how I’ve hoped people would feel after listening to my music. My default setting when writing is to try and find the silver lining in any story I’m telling or emotion I’m trying to convey. Even on some of my darker songs, I’ve always looked to find a way through and deliver a message of hope – that things can be overcome, even when all seems lost. My dad instilled in me to ‘think positive’, and to hear that it shines through in the music means a lot

What plans can you share with us that are upcoming in 2026?

Joe: I’m very much looking forward to celebrating the album launch with a show in my home town of Newbury at Arlington Arts on the 11th of April. I’m then planning to tour as far and wide as possible in the Autumn and beyond. We had the first band rehearsal forArlington yesterday and it felt great having only played many of these songs in a studio setting before now. I’m excited to perform this new music live for as many people as I can.

And a fun question to finish on:

It is a hard winter’s night. The tour van/bus has broken down and a harsh wind blows through the night. Nearby you see a small house, it seems abandoned, yet there is a fire burning, food on the table and working electricity. While you wait for morning – what book and what film will get you through the night?

Joe: Touch wood this never comes to pass Anna-Louise, otherwise I’ll be calling you for a tow! But in the interest of distracted survival – your earlier question and my answer about hope got me thinking about Middle Earth, so I’d take to re-reading The Lord of the Rings as it’s probably been twenty years since the last time. Re-discovering the original canon of the story would certainly see me through ‘til morning, and possibly force a longer stay to get through it all. My favourite film is probably Good Will Hunting. It gained extra meaning for me when I spent a year living in Boston and got to sit on the bench where they have the heart to heart. I’m not sure there will ever be a talent like Robin Williams again. Hold on! Is that the AA van pulling up outside?

Our Review:

The album has 11 tracks.

“Time is a Thief” opens the album with bass and drums, “save me a seat at the end of the world” sings Joe as the song opens the album with a melodic clap-along style commercial rock sound. It has a great guitar break around the 2.27 mark and “Time is a Thief” is a confident track to launch matters.

“The Architect” is a song of sadness as sandcastles crumble and love tears you apart – that’s the thing with love, its early wonders can leave you unstuck. The lyrics that lament lost love are underpinned by an uplifting melody and vocal that belie the sentiment.

“Heart in Two” – sees a solid vocal performance from Joe. He sings that he doesn’t want his heart torn in two, but this is a Radio 2 style breakfast “ducks-in-a-row” sing along pop rock number.

“If Only” – I guess it was serendipitous that this song flowed so easily when it was written as it has that easy feeling about it, and it is one of my favourites on the album. It is an easy swaying ballad, romantic and has a hazy feeling about it, dreamy and late night. It is the night time hot chocolate (with marshmallows) on the album. This one has storytelling folk leanings.

“Five Into One” – if shadows are dancing as if they are in love then that can’t be all bad…finds its place comfortably on the album without grabbing me as much as some of the others. I liked the imagery of the lyrics, the vultures circling and so forth and it was a solid vocal performance…and a call for help. Interesting.

“More to Me” returns to a pop rock feeling, upbeat and full of heart and rhythm. Although Joe tells of his head stuck in the mirror and tears on his face from the day you walked away, I never felt low listening to the track. It is a song full of mornings and the smell of blended coffee.

“Rollercoaster” was close to my favourite overall. It changes direction on the album and has a funky feeling and love becomes a rollercoaster. I would imagine that this would be a great live song as it has a pleasing immediacy to it. It’s a definite one to check out.

“Maybe” is a pop track, an easy one to lean into and move to. It is one of those late-album tracks that’s easy to enjoy, even if it doesn’t quite demand your attention.

“In the Silence” turns to an acoustic stillness. It is a very intimate song, with sharp production, as if the singer was right there in the room with me.. It reminded me of camp fire moments when one of the group picks up a guitar. A gentle moment.

“Face the Stone” is one of the rockier moments on the album. Do I trust the shadows on my wall? I’m not so sure! This track is another that I imagine will do great when played live and the song has plenty of light and shade (good drum sound too).

“Over and Out” closes things down with the hope that someone will catch us when we fall. It is a swaying pop ballad, plenty of hope and a smile among the world weary lyrics.

“Before It Gets Dark” is an album shaped by loss, but it never stays there. Joe Hicks finds light in the cracks, warmth in the silence, and melody in the mess of it all. It’s the kind of record you don’t just listen to—you sit with it, maybe with a late-night coffee, and let it quietly remind you that things can still turn out alright.

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Artist website here

Stream music from Joe Hicks here