‘That really does feel like another lifetime,’ he says of his previous incarnation as a captain in the Household Cavalry. He feels similarly about his well-documented career in the British Army. ‘It was such a long time ago, I almost can’t relate to it anymore.’ ‘It doesn’t make sense, does it?’ Blunt puzzles. His debut collection Back To Bedlam is the 17th best selling in the UK of all time. It could be ‘1973’ or ‘Bonfire Heart’, maybe ‘No Bravery’ or ‘So Long, Jimmy’.Īfter 15 years toiling at the coalface of sensitive song, Blunt has sold more than 20 million albums and as many singles. Whether it’s the deathless ‘You’re Beautiful’ or ‘Goodbye My Lover’. Truth be told, everyone’s got a bit of James Blunt in them. We don’t even have to pretend to you that we like it. ‘I’ve played a few of these songs to mates and lots of them have turned round, really excited, and said, “This is great. Such is their sense of intimacy, the listener almost feels as if they are eavesdropping. The singer has created 10 snapshots from his extraordinary life wherein love, lust, mistakes and regrets are scrutinized unflinchingly.
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‘In previously talking about albums, I’ve always been, “Oh, well, you know, it’s influenced by Fleetwood Mac or Elton John,” and with this album, I feel like I haven’t really got any of those things to say.’īlunt mops up some onion gravy and grins, he knows the songs are special. ‘I would say it’s the least organic album that I’ve produced,’ Blunt says. There are still acoustic guitars and yearning vocals aplenty only enhanced this time by an intriguing sonic strangeness. The album contains drums and bass that, as Blunt brilliantly puts it, ‘come out of a computer’. The familiar soft rock stylings have been replaced by subtle shades of electronica and a dark digital pulse. The Afterlove is James Blunt, just not as we know him. But I don’t know how this is going to play out.’ Well, I’m on my fifth album - I couldn’t just do the same thing again. They say, “If you don’t change, you die”. ‘It feels very much like a fresh start for me.
He stabs a sausage and chews thoughtfully before continuing. All I know is that I love it, and it might be something that only I love, but I genuinely think this is one of my most exciting albums.’
‘I just don’t know how this album is going to be received. ‘I’m shitting myself,’ Blunt confesses cheerfully, tucking into his lunch in a cosy West London pub. Those three Wise Men, They've got a semi by the sea.Prior to the global release of James Blunt’s audacious new album, The Afterlove, on March 24, the artist has a declaration to make.
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They got caught up in your talent show, With you pernickety little b_s in your fancy dress, Who just judge each other and try to impress, But they couldn't escape from you, Couldn't be free of you, And now they know there's no way out, And they're really sorry now for what they've done, They were three Wise Men just trying to have some fun. Got to ask yourself the question, Where are you now? Those three Wise Men, They've got a semi by the sea. Won't you tell me what the Wise Men said? When they came down from Heaven, Smoked nine 'til seven, All the s_ that they could find, But they couldn't escape from you, Couldn't be free of you, And now they know there's no way out, And they're really sorry now for what they've done, They were three Wise Men just trying to have some fun." James Blunt james blunt - back to bedlam - wiseman Lyrics