Tom Chaplin – The Wave

It’s always a daunting prospect to move away from the familiar and into the unknown, and Tom Chaplin does something of the sort as Keane’s hiatus remains and he ventures from being the band’s frontman and into the realm of solo projects.

Drawing on his battle and triumph over a crippling drug addiction, Chaplin has poured a considerable amount of emotion into his debut album The Wave. Managing to steer clear of the pitfall that is self-pity, the singer succeeds in transforming his troubles into a record crammed with powerful, expressive numbers, jam-packed with cinematic choruses.

Those anticipating a sound akin to the familiar works of Keane won’t be disappointed. After all, Keane’s signature sound is highly reliant on the frontman’s unique croon. However, Chaplin brings a new flair to the sound we’ve grown so accustomed to over the many years. Tracks are laced with experimental electronic sounds, plentiful percussion and the occasional dramatic string supplement.

A real champion of a song is Hardened Heart, equipped with a wild build-up to an uplifting, anthemic chorus, eager to win the listener over. Another huge chorus comes with lead single Quicksand, the most radio-friendly piece in the track list. The River is a fun, guilty pleasure, pop song which features a fair few more synth elements to it and sees Chaplin move further away from the music perhaps long-time fans are expecting to hear. Whereas, Hold on to Our Love is a powerful ballad accompanied by piano and violin and laden with a desperation that helps you see where in his life Chaplin has drawn inspiration for his music from.

Title and final track The Wave is the perfect way to close out the album. The choir-esque backing vocals give the track almost hymn-like qualities which seems fitting considering the tumultuous journey our soloist has experienced.

With enough variation in it to please everyone, The Wave is a promising debut and one that will no doubt propel its artist into the direction of more solo accomplishments.

Li Sa Cee

The Wave was released on 14^th October 2016, for further information or to order the album visit here.

Watch the video for Quicksand here: