2023-10-27 08:37:50
In the collective imagination, James Blunt is a great romantic who capsizes depressive little girls. “I know about it but it’s totally false!” exclaims the person concerned. Ask my wife what we’re doing for Valentine’s Day, and she’ll tell you I’m taking her to the bar. I’m not romantic and neither are my songs. »
What is this reputation worth to the British? His hits “You’re Beautiful” and “Goodbye My Lover”. The story of a drug addict who spies on a stranger and fantasizes about her and that of a man who lost the girl he loves. “If you find this romantic, I love you.” But you have a real problem! »
GOOD. So let’s talk about the real James Blunt. To hear him say, he would rather hang out with David Guetta than Francis Cabrel, so much so that he took up residence in Ibiza, where he would raise his glass every evening to electro sounds. On the eve of his 50th birthday, Blunt says he feels like a young man. “It’s only in France that people constantly talk to me about my age! I love nightclubs, and too bad for being 49 years old. »
Songs about his emotions
However, when we listen to “Who We Used To Be”, his seventh studio album, it is clear that his music is far from being as festive as his daily life. “I write songs about emotions, not about my beautiful car or my imposing watch. Besides, I don’t have any, that’s it. »
So this record does not exude the joy of living, but concentrates the best of what Blunt knows how to do: a very pretty ode to the James of yesteryear, long before the nightclubs of the Balearic Islands, to the native of Tidworth (southwest of England) who learned the violin, the piano, the guitar, in the hope of becoming a rock star. “I was ambitious, I wanted this fast-paced life, I thought anything was possible. And this carefree attitude allowed me to do this job,” he believes.
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I’d be lying if I told you I don’t care if my work is successful
James Blunt
The time of innocence seems to be over. The old age of his parents haunts him, his responsibilities towards his elders and his descendants weigh heavily on his shoulders. Just like his memories as a soldier and the sad state of the world. He talks about the leaders who divide us, about our lack of free will and admits to “selling his soul to the devil” by regularly popping his head on X (ex-Twitter) to “write something stupid” and watch what people say about him .
“I’d be lying if I told you I didn’t care if my work was successful. It’s an environment where it’s difficult to find a place and even more difficult to keep it, yet I’ve had a string of albums and hits. I know how lucky I am and I am aware that all this could have ended much sooner. » Next year, he will go on tour on the roads of France. The opportunity, he admits, to pass through Bordeaux, and “to drink good wine there”. Of course.
« Who We Used to Be » (Warner)
On tour in France from February 20, 2024, and at the Zénith in Paris on February 28.
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