Tom Aspaul — Black Country Disco | Review
I’m always on the look out some good pop music. One thing that has been a joy to listen to is all these throwback albums artists are putting out. Rina Sawayama, Carly Rae Jepsen, Bright Light Bright Light, and Jessie Ware all have done supremely well creating music that is simultaneously nostalgic and fresh at the same time. After hunting through the various artist suggestions, I came across the delightfully handlebar mustached man with bleach blonde hair and an album cover that screamed early 80s. I had to know what this record had to offer. Black Country Disco, a reference to the region that Tom grew up, is a funky yet solemn set of songs that seemingly take you through Aspaul’s rough year of leaving London to return to Wolverhampton. The disco concept came from listening to a lot of classic disco album as he told the Lancashire Times:
“I spent a lot of 2019 listening to classic disco records, like Chic, Sylvester, The Emotions.. and some British stuff like E.L.O and the Bee Gees — and of course ABBA. This was the sonic inspiration. Then all this personal stuff happened and I was inspired to write it down, express it in songs. Also moving home to the Midlands after 15 years had quite a visceral effect on me — it was so nostalgic and weird. This all came together through the record.”
From start to finish, you are taken from his break up with his boyfriend, to moving home, and finally to getting back on his feet. It flows very well lyrically from song to song. Put on your best disco inspired attire and let’s head out to the Black Country Disco.
“Black Country Intro” opens up the album with a swirl of sound. The track is a short instrumentation and blends some of the lines from the following song “Close to Me”. The funky bass mixed with this misty circular sound feels like your mind spinning in a club as your trying to get a hold on the situation.
“Close to Me” blends very nicely in from the opening song. It’s a funky little numerous whose guitars and bass will make you want to start moving. I get more an early 80s vibe from this track. Tom seems beaten down mentally on his own self worth throughout the song. The attention he’s getting from this other guy almost seems like a lie to him, “Are you sure that it’s me that you want?/ Have you seen me?/ Are you looking at the right boy, baby?”. He’s also quite guarded. When asked about himself, he offers only the smallest tidbits about where he’s from. Aspaul’s depression really comes through in the chorus, “If you get too close to me/ Close to me/ Close to me/ I’ll let you down/ (Yes I’ll let you down, yes I’ll let)/ I’m not who I’m supposed to be/ Supposed to be”. He alludes to the fact that he’s not where and who he wants to be. This could possibly refer back to his relationship and his career at the time in London.
“Carnelian” takes us directly into the tumultuous relationship Aspaul has with his then boyfriend. The electronic beats add a bit of coldness that compliments the song well. Carnelian, a red gemstone, plays with the symbology of lust and love. The sin of lust is something that Tom’s boyfriend has committed. We open with already dubious and resentful feeling over his boyfriend’s infidelity, “Does he keep you warm at night?/ Like carnelian around my neck/ Does he live by the moonlight?/ Wear carnelian in our bed”. He fights with whether to stay with him or leave. The feudal sense of denial doesn’t seem to pacify the pain in the long run,“There’s only meant to be two of us/ If you’re my man then why is it hurting so much?/ When I know he means nothing/ (He means nothing)”. This echo of “He means nothing” takes us to the end of the song.
“Tender” follows giving us a view into the raw emotions left over from finally breaking up with his boyfriend. Tom lays on these thick synths that add a little darkness to the campy nature of the song. Like many of us after the fact, Tom can see on the signs that he wasn’t good for him and that it was going to end. This can been seen in the lines, “Only then I realised/ I could see it in your eyes/ Sleepwalking through our lives”, where you can see they were just going through the motions. As the title states, this tenderness has made Tom want to withdraw for the time being, “I don’t think that I could start again/ You know it’s gonna be a cold September/ I don’t wanna show this heart again/ The way you left it feels a little tender”. This is a time period of healing from emotional wounds that are far too fresh. This is one of favorites off the album.
“Traces” accompanies the “Tender” into the haunting memories of Aspaul’s ex.This song has the most modern pop sound out against its 80s synth pop sound. There are still raw emotions tied to his memory, both good and bad. The ghost of his ex shows up in all kinds of places from the lines in another guy’s face, the smell of their cologne, or general feeling in the room. There’s this duality to trying to move on where his loneliness sometimes wins out over his anger, “Oh it’s always at my lowest moments/ That’s when I need you/ I’m only fooling myself (myself)/ That you’ll be back again”. By the song’s chorus, Tom has ahold of himself enough to shake his mind out of this spiraling, “You’re not really there/ I can only feel traces of you/ If you really care/ Then you’d leave me alone, leave me alone/ Tonight, I don’t wanna be reminded/ There’s only traces of you left”. This song feels like the most radio ready track off of the album. I think the touch of vocal effects on the end of the track is a nice touch.
“Euston” is a sort of short intermission between the first and second half of the album. We are greeting with the sound of a subway/train station that builds into the funky synth lead of “W.M.”.
“W.M.” places us back in the town where Tom grew up Wolverhampton. I love the funk-disco pop sound that this song plays around with. It’s probably one of the biggest earworms off of the album. There are many mixed emotions about his sudden change in scenery. The full panic of this decision can be seen in the lines, “Heartbreak in the W.M/ I left all my stuff and I didn’t say goodbye/ Had to pull over on the side of the road/ What have I done?”. The move back to childhood home slowly shows signs of slightly brightening his outlook. As much as he wanted to escape this town as a child, its returning home as an adult that is what he really needed, “In the W.M/ Back to my single bed/ Where I’d dream of my escape/ I’ve got one life to make/ In the W.M/ (Gonna make myself happy, ow)”.
“Dead Already (Save Yourself)” finally gives us some resolution to the end of Aspaul’s relationship. This is probably the funkiest track on the album. I quite enjoy the addition of these bubbly and glittering synths that permeate throughout the chorus. Gone are these mixed emotions of loneliness and need, he’s given this relationship its proper burial, “And even though I’m losing/ And everything’s unsteady/ There’s nothing left to say here/ ‘Cos we were dead already”. There is clarity to his mind that wasn’t there in the album’s opening songs. He knows that staying with his ex-boyfriend would only beget more resentment, anger, and depression. The song ends with Tom confidently moving forward with his decision, “You got to save yourself/ (‘Cos nothing’s gonna save you, ‘cos nothing’s gonna save you)”.
“01902” gets us back on the prowl after getting over this break up. I can see why this song was included on the Black Country Disco short movie. It’s an infectious mix of disco and 80s synth pop that commands you to dance. The song is straight up sexual tension. You’re out for something physical. We cut to the chase, not worried about small talk. The title refers the number calling his phone who happens to be the man he was chatting up earlier. Tom lets this man know right away what he want to do, “Now would you like to live deliciously?/ I’ll put my hands on you, put your hands on me, on me/ My hands on you, put your hands on me/ My hands on you/ Can you feel it inside?”. The phone call Aspaul receives is a welcomed invite to return to the hotel to finish what they started, “Take off your coat, take off your shoes/ Do not disturb, take off your trainers boy/ I think you know what we should do/ Should make the most of what we paid for boy”. This is probably my favorite song off the album.
“Black Country Disco” takes us out on a brighter note. We break out of this storm to celebrate with a joyous disco/funk inspired track. After the journey through moving home and leaving his London life behind, Tom seems to be back in a better mind set. There is this celebratory nature to his words, “I’ve been falling on my knees/ I can feel the sun again/ I can hardly breathe/ Out of darkness, comes the light”. You can feel the weight being lifted off his shoulders through the lines, “Don’t tell me I should stop/ I feel like I’m eighteen/ And I’m smiling once again/ I can do just what I please/ Out of darkness, comes the light”. We end out the album looking back in retrospect at all the emotions he’s been through and realizing that he needed this change. It all ends out at the Black Country Disco.
I loved how cohesive the story was from start to finish on the record. Obviously the campy throwback disco sound was a fun addition to the overall vibe of the album. I can see why Tom’s prior work was utilized by artists like Celeste and Kyile Minogue. Tom would work along side queer filmmaker Sam Taylor-Edwards to create a long form music video to accompany this project. The songs included on Black Country Disco: The Movie include “W.M”, “01902”, and “Tender”. The video was shot completely on VHS to give off that throwback feel to accompany the sound. Tom also released a remix album titled the Black Country Discotheque which includes a 18 different remixes of the various tracks off the debut album. I am sad to say that I missed out on the vinyl copy of the debut, but you can stream the album on Spotify and Apple Music. I thoroughly enjoyed my listen to this record and look forward to what he comes out with next. Stay fabulous Tom! My favorites off this album:
- “Carnelion”
- “Tender”
- “W.M.”
- “01902”
- “Black Country Disco”
My overall rating: 6.5 out of 10 disco grooves from the Black Country…
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