Ahead of his new album launch gigs in Bristol and Trowbridge, we speak to a fighting fit and raring to go Tom Grennan

TOM Grennan plays Bristol’s Prospect on August 13 - and the singer-songwriter says he's ready to ‘blow people's heads off’ with his new music.

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“A lot of people don’t know what's about to hit them,” smiles Tom when he talks about Everywhere I Went Led Me To Where I Didn't Want To Be, and that's not just because it takes roughly as long to say the album's title as it does to actually listen to it.

“I'll be honest, every time I was sending these songs to my record label, everyone was like, ‘What is going on here?’”

Britain’s best male pop star has either appeared out of nowhere or been hiding in plain sight for over half a decade, depending on how closely you've been following things.

If the Tom Grennan in your mind is still the moody troubadour we met two Number One albums ago, around the time of 2018's debut Lighting Matches with its moody black and white photos and earthy singer-songwriter vibe, you may want to reach for the smelling salts.

But if you've been picking up on some of the last few years’ not-so-subtle hints - collaborations with Calvin Harris, Chase & Status, Ella Henderson and Bugzy Malone, along with songwriting credits for the likes of Clean Bandit and Sigala - the state-of-the-art pop sound of Tom's new album will make a little more sense. It'll seem like the continued evolution of one of UK music’s most exciting talents, and the latest chapter in the story of an artist who's already picked up multiple Brit and Ivor Novello nominations and an MTV Award for Best UK Act.

To pull this all off Tom assembled a team of collaborators for the new album; some, like Mike Needle and Dan Grech-Marguerat, were familiar faces. But the beating heart of the album is a new creative relationship between Tom and Justin Tranter, the songwriter and producer behind hits for Britney Spears, Linkin Park, Dua Lipa and Fall Out Boy.