Since the release of his sophomore album, Life in Plastic, back in May, Tom Aspaul has spent the summer galavanting around the Med, all in the name of Art! Now he has returned to give us one last swim into the sunset with the release of Life in Plastic, It’s Expanded. ‘I think the most obvious name would have been the ‘Life In Plastic, It’s Fantastic’ edition,’ Tom tells us, ‘but I was genuinely worried I’d get sued by Aqua!’ Packed with Extended Remixes (we see you ‘Effigy’!), the deluxe edition also features new tracks in the shape of an Alizee cover, ‘U Won’t Care’ and a remix/video for fan favourite ‘Thessaloniki‘.
Tom, Life in Plastic first dropped back in May and next week the expanded edition. What’s been the biggest moment from this era so far?
I really enjoyed playing Prague Pride in August. I think it might have been one of the biggest crowds I’ve ever performed to. Not that many people knew who I was, but the atmosphere and energy was incredible. I was asked to do an hour, which felt quite daunting, but by the end I had everyone in the palm of my hand! I love Prague. I love Czech Hunting!
Don’t we all! How has it been different this time compared with the release of Black Country Disco?
The pandemic basically turned everything upside down with BCD. I wasn’t able to perform or promote it in a way I would have liked BUT because everyone was locked away, I do think it gave the album a bit more space to breathe. A lot of people tell me BCD is their lockdown album. I’m not sure how I feel about that! With Life In Plastic it’s just been like, bam, non-stop gigging, promotion, recording, remixing, videos, photoshoots, interviews. I haven’t stopped, which is basically the opposite of the BCD era.
Tell us about how these extra songs came to be…
They were written at the same time as all the others on the standard edition. When it came to selecting songs for the standard, I wanted it to feel like a short, sharp, smack in the face – so stylistically and genre wise, everything remains uptempo. But with these three extra songs, I’ve explored other genres, other moods. I was also quite hesitant to include any sort of “heartbreak” on the standard version, to set it apart from BCD – but these extra songs sort of touch on that topic.
Life in Plastic sounds just as cohesive as BCD. What specific things did you try to bring collectively to all the tracks to keep this cohesion?
Now I’ve had a bit of distance from the record, it really is just a snapshot of life as a gay man in his 30s in the UK. Each song is like a vignette. Production-wise, by the end of BCD I was sick of anything disco, so I really wanted to explore the late 90s, early 00s – a time when I was coming of age. I think that’s the music that runs through my blood and it came very naturally when writing the songs.
‘Thessaloniki’ is so cute. Love the vibe and the video. Did you visit the city and the song happened based on your time there? Or was the name enough to get you feeling creative?
I lived in Greece as part of my Masters degree! It was a very formative time in my life. So much was going on with me personally, but also in Greece, politically, the country was falling apart, there were riots and demos every day. It was chaotic. I spent a lot of time in Thessaloniki. Met someone. You know the rest!
When writing Life In Plastic, I knew the album was gonna have a Europop feel to it, so it felt right to do a song about my time in Greece, because the country and the city of Thessaloniki really left a mark on me. It was beautiful to return, to shoot the video. A really intense four days, the Queen had just died and here I was, frolicking about in my Speedos. Everyone is so lovely and kind out there and it’s just so photogenic and easy on the eye, it would be hard to shoot a bad video in Greece!
With the extended mixes I can feel we’re getting further into dance territory. Are you tempted to get deeper into a harder sound whether it be as resung remixes or the next album?
I’ve always loved remixes, I think it’s really important to revisit tracks and reinterpret them. The final version is never the final version in my opinion, whether you rehash them for a live show, or music video. I love doing this with all my songs. As for the next album, I really have no clue where I’ll take it musically, but I feel like I’m finding my stride now, so who knows!
Your last album was total Midlands Pride. With Life in Plastic, It’s Expanded you’re giving us Alizee covers in French, songs dedicated to threesomes on Thessaloniki and we’re hearing Barcelona get namechecked too. Have you decided to abandon the UK forever and come join us here on the continent?
I would absolutely love to spend more time in Europe, on a more permanent basis, but I have my dog and my life here in the Midlands. I’m pretty settled right now. I think it’s nice to hop over to Europe and leave wanting more! I’m 100% gonna retire to Greece though, let’s be real.
I was actually using Mr President’s ‘Coco Jamboo’ in a class the other day – total Europop although I guess it has African vibes. Oops! Haha…What are some of your all time favourite Europop bops?
I mean, Aqua are right up there. Ace of Base! Vengaboys! Whigfield! Alizee! I think my all-time favourite would have to be ‘Dub-I-Dub’ by Me & My. It’s my song.
Lastly we need a Mariah question! Lord knows she loves a summer romance, whether it be ‘Underneath the Stars’, ‘Fourth of July’, ‘Mi todo’! When it comes to lyricism is there a line you love from one of her summer fling records?
I love the first line of #Beautiful – granted Mariah doesn’t sing it, but it’s got such a whimsical, summery feel to it, ‘Hop on the back of my bike, let the good wind blow through your hair’ – I would hop on Miguel’s bike no questions asked.
Life in Plastic, It’s Expanded – drops 17th October
