The 37- year old former Keane frontman looks to release his first solo album this week on the 14th of October. Chaplin describes the debut solo album titled “The Wave” as a tale of his journey and battle with drug addiction. Since Keane’s last album Stangeland in May 2012, his life has been a rollercoaster. In an interview, Chaplin admitted that speaking about his vulnerabilities has helped lift a huge burden off his shoulders. “I have found it liberating to become an open, vulnerable person. I lived in fear for a long time. I grew up with the idea that dealing with my emotional problems, anxieties, fears – the best person to deal with that stuff was me.”
Well back to the album, it is a collection of songs written solely by Tom Chaplin from a very personal viewpoint.
It shows an effort by Chaplin to step out of Keane’s shadow and show us his very best. His brilliant and unmistakable voice drives the tracks. “One of the reasons I wanted to go on this solo adventure was that I really wanted to express that inner voice,” he said. “People haven’t heard this voice underneath – I have a desire to let that out. I’m proud of how personal it is.”The songs each show a different side to Chaplin. Below is a tracklist of the songs to feature in the album;
- Still Waiting
- Hardened Heart
- The River
- Worthless Words
- I Remember You
- Bring The Rain
- Hold On To Our Love
- Quicksand
- Solid Gold
- See It So Clear
- The Wave
The Lead single Quicksand is a letter to his young daughter and Hardened heart explains what his family and friends had to deal with during that moment of his addiction. Bring Me Rain and The River seem to bring a more positive and watery vibe to the album culminating to the album’s title. The last song, The Wave is a song about learning to be in tune with life and we shouldn’t let ourselves go.
“Using drugs is an attempt to control the way you feel, an attempt to control life. I used to find on these crazy binges that while it’s not a good place to go, it is kind of comforting. I’d often be on my own with the drug and there would be an almost reassuring familiarity about that place – it was horrible the way it always ended but there was a sense of trying to control something. But, you just can’t as it becomes very destructive “says Chaplin in an interview with the Nottingham Post.
