Establishing the mood with cosmic acoustic guitars, padded drums, textured percussion motifs and tribal ad-libs expanding with a luscious blues harp, Tom Hartman opens Storm with drama and instrumental mastery. The track unfolds with poetic prowess, laced with metaphorical nuances to take us on a journey through fear, altered perception and the struggle to hold on to reality.
We love the rolling, Celtic-tinged rhythm. As for the story, Storm is about a sailor lost at sea, battling an overwhelming storm. Beneath the nautical imagery, however, lies a deeply personal experience. Tom shares how he wrote the song when his hallucinations first began, during a period when he feared he was losing his mind.
As he explains, “The hallucinations had just started, so I wrote this song (about it). I genuinely thought I was going mad.” He has also spoken about being afraid that he would be killed by a deity. It was, in his words, “a fucking difficult period.” This honesty gives the song its emotional weight. The storm becomes a metaphor for an internal struggle that feels terrifyingly real.
Tom’s approach brings to mind the storytelling of Bob Dylan, the darker theatricality of Tom Waits, and the Celtic folk-rock sensibility of The Waterboys, with echoes of the shadowy roots music of 16 Horsepower and the high emotional quotient of Tom McRae.
For some context, Tom Hartman is a Dutch singer-songwriter who blends folk and blues with psychological storytelling and existential themes. He has performed hundreds of shows across Europe, often appearing as a one-man-band with guitar, harmonica, stomp-box and African percussion. He also produces his own music, bringing an independent and exploratory spirit to his recordings. Storm is his third single of 2026, following I’ve Been Away and High Tree Climb.
We could imagine the track accompanying films such as The Lighthouse, The Northman, The Witch, The Green Knight, A Field in England and The Banshees of Inisherin. On television, it could work beautifully in The Day of the Jackal, True Detective, The Terror, Taboo, MobLand, or Penny Dreadful.
Needless to say, we are in awe, and have added Storm to our New Music Spotlight playlist, our TIMELESS playlist and our TRIPPY playlist, whilst we continue to stream the wider discography of Tom Hartman, including High Tree Climb, and I’ve Been Away.