For all of his flippant humour, Blunt’s demons are real.
In his 20s, he was an army captain stationed in Pristina during the brutal Kosovo war, and lost several close friends during the conflict.
Even after he left active service and became a successful musician, he was ostracised and ridiculed by his peers. He was later targeted in a tabloid newspaper sex sting, and was one of the many victims of the News of the World phone-hacking scandal.
The honesty of his new music reflects those experiences. And you can hear the rawness in his voice, too.
The musician who once quipped, “I sing like a girl, external“, has a new depth to his vocals. On the new song Oh Daisy, there’s even a Rod Stewart-esque rasp.
That, he says, is the result of a punishing 21-month tour celebrating the 20th anniversary of his debut album, Back To Bedlam (17.5 million copies sold and counting).
“I really damaged my vocal cords,” he says. “I was pushing it too much, and my voice changed as a result.
“I actually now take singing lessons with different people – with an opera singer, even – and the [whole experience] has given my voice a bit of grit.
“Either that or my balls have dropped.”
It’s a typically self-deprecating jab. If anyone can laugh at themselves, it’s James Blunt. And, however dark his new album gets, there’s always a silver lining.
“This is not forever,” he counsels himself on the closing track. “It’s just for now.”
“That song’s a fist in the air saying, ‘Yeah, we will endure’,” says Blunt.
“I think I’ve been around long enough to know that I don’t have to prove anything.
“The record label released my greatest hits album a couple of years ago, so if my greatest hits are already out, what am I doing now?
“I’m a guy on his own, writing songs with nothing to prove. That’s a pretty good place to be.”
