Tom Aspaul
Black Country Disco
1609
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Several boroughs comprise the West Midlands, one of the most populated expanses of England. During the Industrial Revolution, the region was known for its assorted foundry and manufacturing plants; subsequently, four of these boroughs—Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton—were christened with the appellation of “Black Country.” Long after those massive factories shuttered, the designation stuck. Tom Aspaul—born Thomas Paul Frederick Dutton—hails from the West Midlands, specifically Wolverhampton, and the town shaped him during his formative years.
But it was pop music that offered a glimpse to the world outside of Wolverhampton for a young Mr. Dutton; it also inspired him to script and sing songs of his own. Like any place far removed from the bright lights of the big city, the siren call of the unknown proved to be irresistible. Eventually—via the pursuit of higher education—Thomas Dutton set off toward London to become Tom Aspaul.
For several years, Aspaul ceaselessly grinded to achieve his music-oriented ambitions. Things broke for him in 2013 when his own piece “Indiana”—as produced by fellow British wunderkind MNEK—found its way into the hands of the Princess of Pop herself, Kylie Minogue. Taken with Aspaul’s tune, Minogue covered it—revising its title to “Feels So Good”—and slotted it onto her twelfth studio collection Kiss Me Once (2014) as its sixth track. Subsequently, other vocational opportunities continued to crest for Aspaul until an unforeseen coalescence of personal and professional crises in 2019 temporarily slowed his momentum.
Opting to reset, Aspaul retreated from London and headed home to Wolverhampton—but the creative cogs in his head didn’t stop turning. In a recent interview with project u, Aspaul spoke about the experiences he had endured in the last year, “I’m not trying to make out that I’ve had it even more dramatic than everyone else. But in the sort of three, four months before the pandemic kicked off, I left my job and my boyfriend and my home and where I lived, I left everything where I’d been living for like twelve years. So, then I came back home, and then this all kicked off…it’s just been mad. At the same time, it’s been a whirlwind in a good way.”
Announced in the fall of 2019, Aspaul’s long-awaited debut Black Country Disco was formally unveiled last month on September 14th. Tendered through his own indie-imprint 1609 Records, the album heralds the arrival of a vibrant new voice in modern pop music. Penned and produced by Aspaul in conjunction with Gil Lewis, an up-and-coming trackmaster and writer, the ten-track song cycle is an inviting sonic cocktail of nu-disco, synth-funk and other various electronic and clubland properties. Black Country Disco is sure to bewitch any listener that consumes it.
From the first nebulous pulse that reverberates on “Black Country Intro”—a seductive outline of the electro-R&B shuffler “Close 2 U” that follows—through to the uptempo, balladic strobe of “Tender” and on over to the Italo-disco storm of “01902,” Aspaul commands all he surveys on Black Country Disco.
As it is with any dance-pop raft, specific eras aside, the artist steering the record usually must decide whether to lead with groove or melody—that is not the case for Aspaul here. An ingenious fusion of said grooves with melodies lets Aspaul employ both elements at the same time throughout the record. The resulting effect is that Black Country Disco thrums with a neon flushed intent ideally suited to pack dancefloors, but underneath that glow lurks a compositional complexity that will hook listeners, bringing them back to discover intricacies initially missed upon an inaugural spin.
The overarching theme for the album is stirringly described in its press materials as an account of Aspaul’s “final months living in London, disillusionment within the music industry and the terminal breakdown of a long-term relationship. While the world seemingly collapsed around him, he found himself back in the Black Country, feeling more energized and creative than ever before.”
Pinballing between heartbreak (“Carnelian”) and revivification (“Black Country Disco”), Aspaul shoots these two thematic lodestones through with an irrepressible queer sensibility that has the singer-songwriter balance confrontation, escape, release, and ultimately, rediscovery of self. This also impacts how Aspaul approaches singing the song scripts contained on Black Country Disco too. Possessed of a voice that is genuinely soulful, but eschews showboating dramatics, all of Aspaul’s readings impart melancholy and joy in equal measure, but it is “Traces,” “W.M.” and “Dead Already (Save Yourself)” that emerge as uncontested vocal highlights.
Black Country Disco is a striking and fully realized recording unified across its tonal, sonic, and narrative quarters. To call this album anything other than a masterpiece would be grossly criminal. Most important though is that Black Country Disco is likely only the first chapter in what looks to be a very promising career in pop for Aspaul.
Notable Tracks: “01902” | “Carnelian” | “Tender” | “Traces”
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