While 2021 may not have been the return to form a lot of us were hoping for, one person who was out spreading more joy to the world than Miss Rona was Tom Aspaul. After dropping his album Black Country Disco at the end of 2020, he followed it up with the movie and the book before embarking on The Revenge Body Tour in Kylie-inspired attire no less.
Now Tom is back with ‘Let Them (It’s All Love)‘ the first single from his forthcoming album, Life In Plastic. The track is like a sermon from a church we might actually go to and is a friendly reminder that in this time where we are spending more time online that ever before, we should always brush off the trolls and focus on finding our light….both metaphorically and literaaaaallly.
With this new era, Tom is looking to late 90s UK Club culture for inspo along with a sprinkling of Garage for good measure. We talk to Tom about two-step, escapism and how Disco will never die.
Tom! Congrats on the ‘Let Them (It’s All Love)’! You released Black Country Disco before Kylie and Roisin jumped on your bandwagon! But now that Disco is the moment, you are moving away from it. How are you feeling about that? Excited?
I’m actually relieved to be moving away from disco! Black Country Disco was a work in progress that took over three years in the end and obviously over that amount of time, my tastes changed, the music I listened to changed – so it was refreshing to do something new! Disco will never die though, it’ll always have a special place in my heart.
We love a cohesive album and Black Country Disco definitely gave us both a concept and cohesion! Are you going for an album concept approach this time too?
I love a concept album too but I was actually really conscious of not repeating myself with this record. I think Black Country Disco came at a really pivotal moment for me and I had to tell its story in a very specific way. This second album is much more free, less about an overarching narrative and more celebration of a certain style of music from the late 90’s/early 00’s that I grew up listening to. There’s a definite strand in the lyrics about escapism, wanting to get away, change things – which came about from writing during the pandemic. I had also envisioned this record happening within some sort of virtual reality game, which is referenced in the video for Let Them (It’s All Love) – which doubles down on the escapism vibe.
Are you working with the same visual team and songwriting team as Black Country Disco?
Yes! The video was directed by Sam Taylor-Edwards, who did Black Country Disco: The Movie, we have a fantastic working relationship and he has queer sensibilities and taste levels that I love. I also worked with Ryann Charless on the VFX, a queer Birmingham based designer on some of the visuals. The photography and album cover have been shot by Jonathen Daniel Pryce, better known as @garconjon – who is such an incredible photographer, I’m very lucky to have him as part of the team.
Musically, I produced everything first, on my own – this is a first for me! I have total creative control over how everything sounds. Once I’d finished my version of a song, I’d send through to Gil Lewis to mix and perfect. There’s also a couple of tracks written with MNEK too – so it’s all the old gang basically!
I know Aqua and Steps are on the moodboard for this era. Love it. But I also know UK garage is there too. Very excited for those tracks! Can you tell us anything about them? UK garage is definitely overlooked right?
Yes! Lot’s of pure pop on the moodboard but I’m also a massive fan of UK garage. One of the MNEK songs has a two-step beat – I actually reference the really sweet kind of UK garage Liberty X or Mis-Teeq used to make, or that song ‘Sweet Like Chocolate’, remember that? So it’s UK garage with a pop twist. There was a moment when everyone started doing garage-tinged music in the early 00s, like Victoria Beckham/Dane Bowers and I think that’s when it lost its cool sadly – and now it’s overlooked, so many great songs!
Will Mariah ever release a non-Christmas song again?!!!
I think she’s well and truly jumped the Christmas shark now, but good for her.
‘Let Them (It’s All Love)‘ is out now.
The album Life In Plastic will follow in the spring.
