Every day, a personality invites itself into the world of Élodie Suigo. Monday October 30, 2023: the British author, composer and performer, James Blunt who has just released a new album and will be in concert in France from February 20, 2024.
James Blunt’s light tenor voice is instantly recognizable when he sings. He appealed beyond borders and even from the front where he served as a soldier. He was a captain in the British Army’s Life Guards regiment in Kosovo and took part in the UN peace mission. It was there that he wrote his title No Bravery in 2004. He ended up leaving the army to devote himself to his passion, music. James Blunt has just released a new album, titled Who We Used To Be in Deluxe version, four new titles in addition to the initial ten and he will be in concert in France from February 20, 2024.
>> James Blunt: “My songs often capture the fear of time passing”
franceinfo: I have the impression that this last album allowed you to talk more about your emotions?
James Blunt: I’ve always written personal songs, but it’s true that basically, I wrote songs about myself and the questions I could ask myself, about who I was going to be, who I was going to meet, what I was going to do. And then we grow up, we meet someone, we start a family. Our parents get older, and then we start taking care of them, rather than the other way around. We stop writing songs that are only about ourselves and we start talking about other people who are more important than you in your life. I answered the questions I asked myself when I was younger and now I have new ones because my position in the world and within my family has changed.
This new album seems to be a new beginning, but also the continuation of the story. Was this also a way of finding yourself as a man?
I believe you are right. It’s the album of someone who is perhaps a little more mature, who has grown up. There are necessarily things that we only understand when we are in this position and we realize who we really are.
Your father was a soldier… Tell us about your parents. What did they bring you?
I’m in a business that swallows you up and spits you out. The music world is superficial, it’s pretentious. We are only interested in what is fashionable and trendy. And none of this is true and authentic. It should be about art, about emotions, about connecting with others. When I became famous for my music, it really wasn’t something that came naturally to me and it made me nervous. I called my parents and told them: I need my family’s support. And that’s my biggest support to date. Despite my age, my parents are still parents and when I do stupid things, they tell me. Through all the craziness of this environment, they help me stay grounded.
You are offering a sequel to your worldwide hit You’re Beautiful with Some Kind Of Beautiful. I think we can even associate Beside You. We feel to what extent love is ultimately one of the pillars of your life.
It’s very important, yes. I’m the guy who wrote You’re Beautiful and the songs I write now must be even more important than this one. I need to say things that have more depth and more meaning.
“There’s a lot of stuff in this album that’s focused on the person I married, saying that all the love I have, I get through her.”
James Bluntat franceinfo
There is a song like Beside you, (dance alongside you)these are really deep things.
You were a captain in the army and participated in peace missions such as in Kosovo. Between Ukraine and what is happening in Israel, how do you, as a former soldier, perceive this world?
With the same sadness as everyone else and the terrible realization that it is always the civilians who unfortunately suffer at the hands of these people. It’s a tragedy, it’s a tragedy to live it and realize that the only way to save all of this is by talking. Have compassion for both sides. We need to find common ground. Military actions only work to a certain degree, you have to find similarities between the two.
To finish, what can we say about these almost 20 years spent on stage and at the top of the cHarts?
For me, there is real magic in concert. Seeing that two human beings share the same emotion… Seeing all these strangers together in the same room is very special to me. I have a wonderful job. I’m very lucky to do it. Politicians often try to divide us. What I like about this job is that it brings people together. Strangers stand together in a room and sing songs, sometimes in languages different from their own.