The way James Blunt sees it, we may get older, but nothing changes much from elementary school. “We seem to be in exactly the same state as when I was 8 years old. In the school playground, children gossiped about who kissed who, who said what about who, who wasn’t cool because they weren’t wearing the right clothes. Now, on a global scale, people write about who kissed who, who said what, and who’s wearing what clothes.”
In the nearly three years since Blunt released his debut album, Back to Bedlam, it has sold 11 million worldwide, going No. 1 in 18 countries and top 10 in 35. A short list of his accomplishments includes being nominated for five Grammys, landing the first No. 1 single in the U.S. (“You’re Beautiful”) by a British act since Elton John’s “Candle in the Wind 1997,” and winning two MTV Awards and two Brit Awards.
That seemingly sudden rush to global superstardom and the attendant experiences make up much of the lyrical content of his second Custard/Atlantic album, All The Lost Souls. The 10-song cycle about life – and death – shows tremendous growth from Back to Bedlam, which Blunt calls “a very honest, slightly naïve collection of thoughts, emotions, and experiences. I wrote them without any knowledge that anyone would hear them.”
This time around, he knows there’s an audience eager to hear his songs about “the ups and downs of his journey.” Blunt bristles at the notion that his now-lofty perch distances him from his listeners. “Just because I’ve been given the fickle title of celebrity, it doesn’t mean I’m any less human. I go through the same things, only my mother hears about them first now,” he says, laughingly referencing his frequent appearances in the tabloids.
