Expecting to see the flashy silk shirts, ornate matador costumes, or flashy pink Speedos popular in his album cover, I’m surprised to find a far more relaxed Aspaul sipping tea in an all-black outfit (still with his signature handlebar moustache, of course). life in plastic.īlending George Michael’s assertive sass with the swaying synth pop of The Human League, Aspaul’s music is uncompromisingly funky. Almost three years later, he’s still here, speaking to me via video call ahead of the release of his new album. Around the same time in 2019, his relationship ended and Aspaul sneaked home with his tail between his legs. Aspaul admits that he lost focus in songwriting sessions and was often late. For a pop fan, things didn’t get any better.īut with such highs early in his career, what followed was “disappointing”. Some of his earliest collaborations were with Mutya Keisha Siobhan (the reformed original Sugababes) and Kylie Minogue.
The 35-year-old first moved there from the West Midlands to study architecture before turning to songwriting. “When I moved away, I got to see that for the first time.” If you had told him a few years ago that he was talking about the capital like that, he would have scoffed. “There are a lot of people out there who are really, really unhappy, but they’re just pretending,” says the pop singer. Tom Aspaul reflects on the lessons he learned after leaving London.
