If you’re a pop music stan and, like Black Phillip, you’re fond of living deliciously, then you need to dive into Tom Aspaul’s triumphant debut album. Black Country Disco, named after the singer-songwriter’s West Midlands origins, is a 10-track set full to the brim of relentless Italo-disco bangers, largely inspired by industry legends such as Madonna, Sylvester, Kylie Minogue and Daft Punk.

For the past six years, Tom has released a string of critically-adored pop anthems and written for the likes of Alex Newell, AlunaGeorge, Charlotte OC, Little Boots and Kylie – to name a few – but it wasn’t until this year that the star decided to craft his debut effort. Black Country Disco came to fruition following his departure from London and the breakdown of a long-term relationship. Although it chronicles his journey through heartbreak and loss – “I’m not really reinventing the wheel,” says Tom – it also delves into acceptance, freedom and most importantly, the joy of finding yourself again.

“For a lot of musicians, there has to be some kind of switch to flick,” explains Tom. “You have to have a bit of pain and a lived experience to make great songs, and I was competent. I was doing alright, but I don’t think it was really me. Working on this album, I felt energised. When you’re with someone, you melt together and you kind of lose elements of your personality because you’re trying to fit around another person. I’d forgotten lots of things that I love and things I’d like to do. When you’re on your own, you remember who you are a bit more.”

Over Zoom, we spoke with Tom about the story behind Black Country Disco, the connection between the queer community and disco, and the “student projects” he has lined up for the rest of 2020. There’s also a lot about Black Phillip, mentioned above, a goat slash devil who served as inspiration for the album’s most relentless track, 01902. 

You’ve been releasing music since around 2013 – why was now the right time to release your debut?
With leaving London and my relationship ending, I just had this big life-changing thing happen, and I was faced with a lot of time to myself. Thinking helped me write a lot, and it just made perfect sense that there was this body of work for me. Until then, I’d always had a part time job or write songs for other people. I’d never really devoted all my attention to my artist project. Having something like that happen really shook me to my core, I guess, and made me realise that life’s too short and you just need to do it. If you don’t do it, then it’s not going to get done, and I think I was a bit too tentative with my own music. I always over-thought and over-planned everything, and was only releasing maybe one song a year for a very long time. I just thought, ‘Fuck it. I love doing this. Now is the chance.’ Logistically, as well, I had more time because I was at home. I’ve had to do everything from producing and the label stuff, creating the artwork… It’s been a full project. In a perverse way, lockdown and the pandemic helped because I had all of this time to get it done. I always release music based on how I’m feeling, and what I’m going through at that point, and because I was in a relationship for five years, my music wasn’t particularly… interesting? I was really happy and sort of coasting through life. So, I had all these things to draw upon with the lyrics and stuff, and a lot of people relate to heartbreak. I’m not really reinventing the wheel.