This month sees moustached British synth-pop king Tom Aspaul follow up three critically acclaimed albums—Black Country Disco, Life in Plastic, and Cabin Fever—with his latest dreamy Italo disco-inspired album, Moustache (Part I). It marks the first chapter in the independent artist’s planned trilogy, blending house, club-pop, and euphoric electropop to capture desire in all its forms. Across eight tracks Aspaul pursues fleeting romances, searches for new beginnings and holds onto the possibility of love, even when it feels just out of reach.
Taking its title from a symbol of confidence, attraction and masculinity that’s often queer-coded, Moustache explores the vulnerability that can exist beneath the image we present to the world. From the holiday romance of lead single “You Can Try Me” to the yearning title track, the album explores longing, attraction, heartbreak and hope through Aspaul’s most bold, immediate and revealing work to date.
Ahead of the release of Moustache (Part I) on July 24th, Tom Aspaul speaks exclusively with The Queer Review’s editor James Kleinmann about how his passion for music first emerged, getting started in his songwriting and performing career, how Kylie Minogue came to cover his single “Indiana” as the Kiss Me Once album track “Feels So Good”, his decision to release his latest work in three parts, what inspired the first installment, the symbolism of the moustache, and his favourite LGBTQ+ culture.
James Kleinmann, The Queer Review: I’d love to hear some of your origin story as a songwriter and performer. Did you grow up in a musical household?
Tom Aspaul: “I’m from Wolverhampton. I was brought up by my mum mostly as my dad worked very hard as a plumber and was often away. He’s actually very musical, but he likes rock music. I remember being five years old and my mum playing Madonna’s “Justify My Love” very loud. Which is a very inappropriate song for a five-year-old to listen to! Growing up, my house was always full of music, whether it was Chaka Khan or Janet Jackson. Music was omnipresent; in the car; on the radio; it was everywhere.”
“I was encouraged to participate in shows at school. I didn’t actually formally train. I didn’t do a music degree or get any music qualifications, but I did join some out of school musical societies. That was a big part of my childhood and adolescence, but as I got into my mid to late teens I stopped doing it. At the same time though, I bought a keyboard and I was always writing shit songs in my bedroom. I would try to recreate songs that I liked and learn how to play them. Music was a large part of my life and that was mostly down to my mum being obsessive about it and introducing me to all of these fab artists that I still love today.”
Madonna being one of them I imagine from hearing “Justify My Love” as a kid?
“Yes, and obviously everybody’s talking about her new album, but I haven’t listened to it yet. Which is sacrilegious, I know, but I’ve been so busy and I want to afford it the time that it deserves. One of my first memories is having The Immaculate Collection on cassette, putting it on at a family gathering and doing a dance to “Vogue”. I must have been about five or six and I was encouraged to do that. So you can join all the dots up with that!”
“Janet Jackson was another big one, so was ABBA. My first concert was the ABBA tribute band Björn Again. It’s all very cliché isn’t it really?! But that’s how I was introduced to music. It was purely through osmosis from my mum and a little bit of encouragement. But when I got into my teens it stopped. I actually went to university to do architecture. Which is fuck all to do with music so it’s completely weird that that’s what I decided to do. It was when I left university and I moved to London,l where I was surrounded by lots of cool and interesting people, that I picked up where I left off. That would have been in my early 20s.”
Were you working at Dalston Superstore then?
“At one point I was. That would have been in 2011 and 2012. My first job in London though was at a pub called Electricity Showrooms on Hoxton Square. It was owned by the same people who owned Hoxton Bar and Kitchen. There was a club night called Boom Box there and another one called Ponystep. It was back when Shoreditch and Hoxton were a thing. Then I was at Dalston Superstore. So I was in and around that scene for four or five years. Then I went back to university to do a master’s degree in set design. Again, nothing to do with music. So I’ve had quite a long and convoluted journey. I didn’t do anything professionally with music until I was about 25.”
What did you find inspiring about that East London scene that you were part of working in Hoxton?
“It was crazy. People going out, making outfits on the fly and wearing ridiculous things. It was great and it’s really funny because a lot of people who were part of that scene have gone on to be so successful. Gwendolyn Christie is one of the people I remember well from those days. I remember Adele projectile vomiting outside the pub once. Jamie T was always sat at the bar. We once had to take Kate Moss down into the beer cellar because she was being chased by paparazzi and I had to give her a fish finger sandwich and wait until the paparazzi had left. That was just a regular day working there.”
“We were really naughty at work and helped ourselves to drinks. It was post-recession and I don’t know how the business was making any money. It was a really fun time and in some ways it was great because I met lots of people who went on to be key figures in my entry into the music industry, but at the same time it was a lot of procrastinating and partying. It wasn’t until my mid-20s when I was like, oh shit, okay, I need to do something. I haven’t thought about that time for ages. It was wild.”
You’re about to turn 40 this year aren’t you?
“Yeah, in September, which I’m really looking forward to. I think 39 is such a shit age. Let’s be 40, it’ll be so much easier!”
What date in September?
“The 16th.”
Oh, pretty close to mine. I’m on the 22nd September.
“Oh, wow. So you’re still a Virgo then?”
Yeah, I’m Virgo on the cusp with Libra.
Were you in your mid-20s when the Kylie Minogue cover of your song “Indiana”—which she recorded as “Feel So Good”—came about? I’ve been a Kylie fan for forty years now, since I was eight years old. Were you a Kylie fan yourself when that happened?
“Going back to my mum again, I distinctly remember my mum giving me a VHS tape of Kylie: The Videos. It’s the one where she’s wearing the weird black hat with a wig that comes through, with the videos for “I Should Be So Lucky”, “Got to Be Certain”, “The Loco-Motion” and “Je Ne Sais Pas Pourquoi” on it. I must have worn that tape out. I used to watch her music videos religiously. So I’ve always been a massive fan since I was a little kid.”
“It was around 2012 when I wrote the song “Indiana” and I was working at Dalston Superstore actually and I would’ve been 26 then. I wrote it in 2012 and released it as a single in 2013. Then Kylie released it as an album track called “Feels So Good” in 2014 on Kiss Me Once.”
I love both versions. You sing backing vocals on her version don’t you?
“I do, yeah, but I didn’t have anything to do with the studio session. They took my vocals and transplanted them onto her track and pitched them up to the right key. Which is bizarre because they should have just asked me to come in. I actually heard that song for the first time hungover in bed after a shift at Dalston Superstore the night before. Someone emailed me from my publishers and they were like, ‘we’ve got the first version and it’s called “Feel So Good Now” by the way.'”
“I pressed play and it was so surreal because she doesn’t really sound like herself on that record, she sounds weird, in a good way. I love it but it’s a different sound for her. I’ve actually been talking a lot about Kylie this weekend, mainly in relation to Madonna, because of their cute interaction on Graham Norton. I think Kylie is fantastic. She’s wonderful. So it’s really lovely to be a part of her back catalog in a small way.”
Let’s about your new album, Moustache, which you’re releasing in three parts. Do you already have a sense of what the theme or vibe of each part will be?
“It was a conscious decision to not do anything with an overarching concept, because I’ve released three albums now and they’ve all been more or less concept albums based around a theme or a specific situation that’s unfolding. I came away from those three albums feeling quite content and happy, but I wanted to do something different with this one. I’m always writing songs, but there was no overarching theme. I was like, let’s just write some fun, sexy songs and it grew from there. The turnaround from inception and writing to finishing it was so fast. It’s a short album, it’s only eight tracks, but with a view to being 24 eventually.”
“There are going to be some standalone singles in between each album, so I’ll be constantly releasing stuff. I did take a step back from part one and tried to listen to see if there was a connection between everything. I guess because it’s all written from my perspective, it’s all about things that I want out of life. There’s a longing, whether it’s for men or for contentment or whatever. There seems to be a theme of desire running through it. It wasn’t ever my intention to do that. It’s quite a novel way of doing an album, which is just writing loads of stuff and then taking a step back and looking at the bigger picture and being like, okay, that’s what my mental psyche was going through over the last six months. It was a lot of, I want this and I want that.”
“I don’t know what part two will be like, but I’ve started writing and producing and recording already with a view to release it at the beginning of next year. I’d like it to all be considered as one project though. A large part of my thought process behind splitting it into three was that as an independent artist, I don’t have the resources to finish a 12-track project that quickly. But you are constantly pressured by streaming services to release something every two or three months to keep on people’s radar and to keep your profile building.”
“I had a brainwave and thought, why don’t I just do mini albums that are part of one project, but keep it going and sustained. Other people have done it, like Carly Rae Jepsen is about to do a two-sided album and Robyn released Body Talk in three parts, so there are precedents. It’s my way of dealing with the pressure of having to constantly release music. When I’ve released albums in the past, you put all your life and soul into 10 or 12 tracks then they come out and you’re like, that’s it, that’s all I’ve got. You’re going to have to wait another 18 months for me to do something else. So releasing in three parts has worked out well. I really like this level of work and it’s sustainable for now.”
How would you describe the sound for people who haven’t heard the record yet?
“It’s gone through some revolutions. The real idea for it came about at the end of September last year when I was on holiday in Italy with my friend. We were driving around Puglia in a hired car and if you’re going to go on a road trip with me I will curate a playlist! That’s something I will do. Because we were in Italy I thought, why don’t we just do Italo disco the whole time, so I did.”
“I asked a few DJ friends of mine for recommendations of cute Italo disco tracks. Then I put this playlist together. You know when you come back from holiday and you’re feeling a bit depressed and you want to relive the memories? I was listening to that playlist throughout the autumn and sonically that’s where this album began. Those melodies and the kind of synthy aspect of Italo disco was the seed. Then there were a whole load of other influences including French house music, like Daft Punk or Justice; elemental house; and electro pop. It’s quite varied, but it feels coherent as a sound because it was just me and three other producers. So there’s no huge disparity between any of the songs. It’s mostly synth pop, if you had to pin it down.”
Who are the other producers that you collaborated with on it?
“First and foremost, my long term collaborator is Gil Lewis who I did most of my first three albums with. He worked on three of the songs on Moustache. I produced three, including one completely on my own, “Black Leather”, and two with the help of a Leicester-based producer, Dave Tidmarsh. Then on another two songs I worked with an Irish producer based in Manchester, Jack Ward. We actually worked on a remix project for my last album and I really liked how we worked together. I love working with new producers because it brings a fresh energy.”
“The last album was completely produced by me and Gil. It’s so much pressure to put on only one other person to do a full album, so it’s actually really nice because me and Gil have worked on these three songs over six months. It’s allowed us to enjoy the process a lot more and take our time with it. The other two producers have been a really good counterbalance. I’ve actually got good at production myself which is something that I’m really happy with on this record. With “Black Leather”, I had to use YouTube tutorial videos to be able to mix it properly, which was difficult but really satisfying.”
I love that track.
“Oh, thank you so much. That’s the one I’m quite scared about releasing because I’m like, does it sound shit?! I don’t know!”
Like you say, the eight tracks have a cohesive sound to them.
“I would hope they do sound cohesive because they all started off as demos that I made. One thing I’ve noticed is that I’m singing in a much lower register than usual on a lot of these songs. I actually enjoy singing in a lower register, but I was supporting Becky Hill for a festival performance a couple of weeks ago and it was the first time I was doing a couple of tracks from this album live. I went to sing them and I have absolutely no power in my voice when it’s that low, I can’t project at all. So it’s really tricky when it comes to performing them live. I’m going have to relearn to sing a lot of them, but I’d rather be doing that than screaming like I usually do!”
Let’s talk about moustaches. What do they represent for you. You sport a beautiful moustache yourself, but not everyone can pull it off can they?
“First of all, it’s the only facial hair that I can grow. In some ways, I don’t know if I’m reclaiming it because I used to be envious of people who could grow a beard or could have a really five o’clock shadow. I can’t do that because it’s so patchy. It takes me two months to have any kind of semblance of a beard, so pretty early on in my 20s having a moustache became the default.”
“I’ve been having quite a few conversations about moustaches recently because of the name of the album. A moustache is quite evocative for a lot of people, and provocative too, because it represents masculinity and confidence. It’s quite sexual as well, like any facial hair is, but there’s something particular about the moustache which is is very gay-coded too. I get heckled quite often when I’m performing at festivals that are mostly straight crowds. I also get people shouting ‘Freddie Mercury’ at me on the street. Obviously, that’s a huge compliment, but it’s a bit of a microaggression as well. There are all of these undertones to it and some of them are quite dark. I don’t know whether it’s homophobia.”
“You are literally wearing something on your face that demarcates you from from other people. It’s a stylistic choice, but I genuinely can’t grow anything else. Two of my uncles would always have a moustache when I was growing up, so it’s definitely a genetic thing. It’s something that people always bring up in conversation and for some reason feel that they have a license to make a comment about, even though it’s unwarranted sometimes. I’ll just be in the queue buying groceries at Tesco and people will be like, ‘nice mustache’ and I’m like, ‘thanks, I guess’.”
Maybe they can’t grow one themselves and they’re envious.
“Yeah, maybe that’s what it is!”
I don’t know if it’s the same in London right now, but in New York it feels like everyone has a moustache. It’s good advertising for the album, right?
“Yeah, I agree, there’s a specific subset of metropolitan gay men who have been sporting a moustache and that’s great, I’ve got nothing bad to say about that. I feel like it’s waning a bit now in the UK. It was at its peak a couple of years ago here. If you go to Australia, it’s hard to tell who’s gay and who’s straight because there are so many moustaches. There are a lot of handlebars and there are a lot of mullets as well, so it’s very interchangeable. I love a mustache and if you can grow it and it looks good, why not? It’s interesting how aesthetically it doesn’t work for some people. I love that there has been a big resurgence and I hope I’m providing the soundtrack to that. I’d like to think so anyway.”
Definitely, the soundtrack of this moustache summer. It’s also made it hard to tell who’s straight or gay here in New York because the moustache is so ubiquitous right now.
“You used to be able to tell. Like, gay or European?!”
Yeah, exactly. What’s on your most-listened to playlist right now?
“As I mentioned, I haven’t listened to the new Madonna album yet, but I like the singles from it. I really love Ariana Grande. I can’t help it. I just think she’s fab. I really love the album Positions. I’m so out of date with that. It came out during the second lockdown here in the UK in 2020 and I was obsessed with that record. My Italo disco playlist is fab and there are some bangers on there. A lot of them are one-hit wonders that don’t have anything else out there on the internet. There’s a track by Pumkin Machine called “I Need You Tonight” which is one of the best songs of all time that gets me going. I must’ve listened to that 100 times in the last year.”
“Aside from that, it really ages me to say this, but I haven’t been listening to that much new music because when I’m writing albums and producing them, I go into my own world a little bit. My comfort zone is to listen to what I already know and what I already like. Nothing that challenges me. Which is a really strange thing to do because you can tell that Madonna is listening to all the cutting edge artists and keeping up with what’s hot and that’s really admirable. Maybe when I approach 60 I should start to do that. But off the top of my head, all I can think about right now is Italo disco and Ariana Grande. I’m going to see her next month, so obviously she’s at the forefront of my mind.”
Last question, what’s your favourite piece of LGBTQ+ culture or a person who identifies as LGBTQ+; someone or something that’s had an impact on you and resonated with you?
“Recently, it would be the TV show Hacks which I’ve just finished watching. I love the character of Ava Daniels played by Hannah Einbinder and I love Jean Smart. I love how LGBTQ people are interlaced into that show in such a lovely, natural way. It’s so funny, so well observed, and it’s such a lovely relationship between an older straight woman and a younger bisexual woman. They’re from completely different generations, but they get along and they nourish each other’s lives. The world would be a better place if we all got along as well as they do by the end of the series. It’s such a heartwarming show, it’s fantastic. It’s dramatic, the music is amazing, and it’s beautifully written. It’s something that I didn’t expect to like as much as I do, but whenever I catch up with a friend and we’re talking about TV shows, Hacks is always right at the top of my list.”
By James Kleinmann
Tom Aspaul’s latest album Moustache (Part I) is released on July 24th, 2026 via 1609 Records / Downtown Artist & Label Services. Pre-save the album now. For upcoming live dates head to tomaspaul.co.uk. Follow Tom Aspaul on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Spotify, YouTube, Apple Music, and X.
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