More about: Tom Chaplin

Tom Chaplin is best known as the singer and pianist for indie group Keane. Tom’s debut solo album The Wave came out in 2016 and earnt strong reviews by showing a departure from Keane’s sound and demonstrating Chaplin's versatility as an artist and songwriter. Following Keane’s most recent record in 2019, Chaplin returns with his second Solo LP Midpoint, a more jazz and piano-based record that acts as a strong showcase for his vocals and all round musicianship. 

Much of the record was written during lockdown and has a reflective and introspective feel to it with a haunting, eerie beauty to much of the stripped back melancholic sound. 

'All Fall Down' opens with a gorgeous lengthy piano intro that combines elements of jazz and classical music, a far cry from what one might expect from the Keane frontman. It's the departure from norms that makes this such an interesting record, showing Chaplin’s growth as an artist — and his willingness to take risks. 

'Rise and Fall' sees Chaplin’s vocals accompanied by a constant drumbeat and some soft guitars, while 'Black Hole' features full band with brass and woodwind instruments plus choral backing vocals. The song builds to a beautiful and moving crescendo that wouldn’t feel out of place in the winter cold, a warming and rousing conclusion to a beautiful track. 

'Stars Align' is a faster paced track that again sees Chaplin’s vocals take centre stage, perhaps something that isn’t always apparent on some of Keane’s work. Conversley, the closest Keane-sounding track is 'Gonna Run', which features a more prominent chorus yet still retains much of the haunting beauty of the rest of the record, with soaring guitars. 

With Chaplin in his third decade as an artist, he shows no signs of slowing down, building on his fine solo debut and recent work by Keane to deliver another fine record that sits more like Damon Albarn’s solo material and can be enjoyed without the need to be compared to the sound of Keane. This will please long term fans and newbies alike, showing an artist not afraid to break out of his comfort zone and take risks. Here’s hoping this isn’t the last we hear of Tom Chaplin as a solo artist and that some of the softer more beautiful moments on this record translate to further Keane material too. 

Midpoint arrives 2 September via BMG.

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More about: Tom Chaplin