[music]

Alison Stewart: This is All Of It on WNYC. I'm Alison Stewart. Singer-songwriter James Blunt is known for his thoughtful lyrics and mournful breakup songs. He shot to fame nearly 20 years ago with the hit single You're Beautiful. Blunt's new record has something for your whole emotional palette. You can groove along to a song like this one, Beside You.

[MUSIC - James Blunt: Beside You]

I hope there's a song that God only knows

And it's keeping me dancing (Dancing, dancing)

Nobody here knows how the melody goes

But it's keeping me dancing (Dancing, dancing)

(Beside you)

Beside you

Beside you

Alison Stewart: The album is titled Who We Used to Be and it also contains some very serious songs, including one about the loss of a child and the death of Blunt's great friend, Carrie Fisher. He is not only candid in his music. James has a memoir out in the UK with the cheeky title, Loosely Based On A Made-Up Story: A Non-Memoir, where he does dive into some of his real-life experiences, from fighting with the UN forces in Kosovo to a stratospheric rise to fame with his debut album, Back to Bedlam. His new record, Who We Used to Be, is out now. James Blunt joins me in studio for a listening party. Welcome to the studio.

James Blunt: Hey, good afternoon. Thanks for having me.

Alison Stewart: Good afternoon. The album has some great dance tunes on it alongside these songs about grief and loss. You could have gone one way or the other, made just a dance record, made a very serious emotional somber record. Why the mix and how did you find the right balance?

James Blunt: Well, life isn't always just entirely miserable and life isn't always entirely just upbeat. If I'm writing songs about what's going on in my life, like many other people, you have highs and you have lows. There are celebratory songs about the good things that are going on and along the way, some things go badly, and I write about those.

Alison Stewart: What kind of writer are you? Are you a something comes to you and you write it on a napkin writer? Are you someone who sits down and has a very specific practice?

James Blunt: I look for or feel an idea. Something that's making me feel strongly in my life in that day, then I need to go and find a quiet place which is invariably not in my own home studio. That's where I'll walk in and make that idea into something whole.

Alison Stewart: Do you write by hand? Some artists write by hand, write their lyrics by hand, some people do it on the phone, some people do it on a computer.

James Blunt: Well, primarily on an instrument really, I think-- because then if you remember the lyric at that stage, it's probably worth remembering and if you don't, it's worth forgetting. Then nowadays I'll tap it away on my computer.

Alison Stewart: That's so funny, the idea that if I forgot a lyric, then maybe it wasn't meant to be. The first song on the album is Saving a Life, which has a very intense first lyric. I was in a lifeboat, but you wouldn't get in. I threw you a lifeline, but you wanted to swim. It's a low-key delivery and then there's this big sonic rush at the chorus. Why was this the right first track?

James Blunt: I really like the song. It's probably my favorite song on the record.

Alison Stewart: Oh, interesting.

James Blunt: As is the way with when you put an album out, record labels start thinking about what's going to get played on the radio. They hadn't highlighted this song as a radio song, a radio single. I thought, "Well, I need to get it heard somehow," so if I put it on as the first track, you'll find it.

Alison Stewart: Let's take a listen to Saving a Life.

[MUSIC - James Blunt: Saving a Life]

Don't you know there's sharks out there?

I'm not afraid to say I'm scared

No matter how hard I row, you're drifting away

You just keep swimming

Why won't you give me a sign?

Let me throw you a rope

I'm not saving a soul, I'm just saving a life

But you just keep swimming

Why don't you wanna survive?

Are you all out of hope?

I'm not saving a soul, I'm just saving a life

But you just keep swimming

I was in a lifeboat, you were out in the deep

I wanted to help, but there's an ocеan between

Oh, there's an ocеan between

Don't you know there's sharks out there?

I'm not afraid to say I'm scared

No matter how hard I row, you're drifting away

Alison Stewart: That is Saving a Life from the new album Who We Used to Be by James Blunt. Why is that one of your favorite songs?

James Blunt: Well, I think sonically, I love it, but the message is clear too. It's that frustration of seeing a friend in trouble and not being able to help or save them. The message again is clear in itself. I'm just trying to save a life, but I'm not saving a soul. Some people, when they get themselves in difficulty, need to get themselves out of it.

Alison Stewart: There are a lot of great producers on this record. Jonny Coffer, Jack & Coke. They've worked with folks like Charli XCX and Beyoncé and Miley Cyrus. What is it that you want out of a producer before we start asking about details and the production? What is it that you as an artist need from your producer?

James Blunt: I suppose really a way of keeping the excitement in the way we wrote the song. An excitement of the demo is what I've been looking for at the moment. Previously I think I've gone in making albums over a long period of time, four months locked away in a studio, really delving in on those songs and I've loved that. Nowadays, we listen to songs in such a short space of time on TikTok with just songs individually rather than albums. For me, I wanted to keep that sense of spontaneity and excitement of, go in, write the song with an idea, with an emotion, and capture that emotion sonically as well. Someone like Jonny Coffer, he's young and he's full of production ideas, but he still keeps in touch with the organic, which is where I come from.

Alison Stewart: What is something that was suggested to you that was new for you and maybe required a little leap of faith in the moment?

James Blunt: Well, there are some dance tracks on here that are straight out of where I live, Ibiza. I'm a guy who sits on a piano or a guitar normally. That dance track is a little new for me to put out myself. I've done collaborations with DJs before and we've had great successes with that. It's been easier to embrace.

Alison Stewart: I'm so glad you said Ibiza. I was hoping one of us would say it in the next 20 minutes.

[laughter]

Alison Stewart: How did you come to live in Ibiza, if I can just take a little tangent?

James Blunt: I always had an ambition to set out and be a singer-songwriter, a musician. Along the way I said, "When I do that, I'm going to live in Ibiza in the summer and Verbier," which is a ski resort in Switzerland in the winter. Then when I did hit big, I thought, "Well, I can make this happen now." I bought a house in Ibiza. My parents actually found it for me because I was on tour. I never saw it when I bought it. It's an amazing place. I moved there because I love nightclubs. Not that you'd known from my kind of music, but it's a special little place.

Alison Stewart: You never saw the house that you live in?

James Blunt: I didn't, no.

Alison Stewart: How did your parents describe it to you?

James Blunt: Well, do you know what? They looked around [unintelligible 00:07:25] houses. They saw that house. They said this is awesome. They called me and they said, "Don't listen to us, listen to your friend." They hand it to a friend of mine who is on the island. He said, "James, get it." It's not fancy, but it's a home. I'd happily die there. Although hopefully not too soon.

Alison Stewart: Well, a house just needs to be a home. It doesn't have to be big and fancy. My guest is James Blunt, the name of the new album is Who We Used to Be. We're having a listening party. Let's listen to another track. This is I Won't Die With You and we'll talk about it on the other side.

[MUSIC - James Blunt: I won't Die With You]

When I met you, you were life and soul

'Cause everywhere we'd ever go

Yeah, you and I were the heart of the party

Didn't know the responsibilities

We were just out there, two kids with dreams

All we wanted was to dance with everybody

We'd be at the bar drinking rum and coke, all night, in New York City

’Cause sunrise over Central Park, it lookеd so pretty

I can't quite put my finger on thе time that you went missing

I won't die with you, I won't check out

This ship ain't sinking, it just won't go down

'Cause I'm not finished, my heart beats loud

Yeah, I'm still swinging, why you throwing in the towel?

Where's the fire inside?

Well, that was then and this is now

It seems you lost your way somehow

Somebody stole the crazy kid inside you

Now you get your thrills from different pills

And all your chat is kids and bills

It's bad to think the good times are behind you

While I’m here, sitting on the White Isle in the land of living

Sand under my feet, my supermodel with me

Alison Stewart: That's a really good example of lyrics which are telling, I won't say sad story, but a serious story, a serious discussion about someone who may have given up, up against this propulsive dance beat. It's an interesting push-pull.

James Blunt: I'm at an age, 39, where in my life, where people, friends of mine seem to be getting stuck in a rut and don't have that sense of excitement. They talk about settling down, why would one settle down in life? We're just getting started, and for me, that's a frustration. I want to say, come on, there's life in the young dog yet.

Alison Stewart: The name of the album is Who We Used to Be. It is out now. We're having a listening party with James Blunt. We'll be back after a quick break.

[music]

Alison Stewart: This is All Of It on WNYC. I'm Alison Stewart. My guest in studio is James Blunt. The name of the new album is Who We Used To Be. We're having a funny little conversation about you. We're talking about you on Slack while you're here because you said you were 39. How old are you?

James Blunt: 39. Younger. I didn't expect to have a quiz.

Alison Stewart: Just checking.

James Blunt: If you check my Wikipedia page, that would give you the answer. My mum changes it back whenever I change it down a bit. I take a few years off. [unintelligible 00:10:42] alert on it, changes it back because-- which is frustrating of her.

Alison Stewart: I guess that's what we're trying to-- Your mom changes it back?

James Blunt: Yes, she does.

Alison Stewart: Really?

James Blunt: Yes.

Alison Stewart: I think that's out of love.

James Blunt: I don't know. She has a habit of calling into radio stations as well when it's not going well for me, which is a thing. I think you're out of range here, which is good.

Alison Stewart: All right. I asked you in the break if it was okay if we talked about your friendship with Carrie Fisher, and you said it was. Thank you for being honest and candid about that. The song, Dark Thought, is dedicated to Carrie. You were good friends. You even lived with her for a bit?

James Blunt: I did. I lived with her on and off while I was writing and recording music here in America. That would be my home between 2002 and when she died in 2016.

Alison Stewart: How did you become friends?

James Blunt: Really weirdly, actually. I was just invited to a lunch in a restaurant in Notting Hill in London by some friend, mutual friends. She was sitting beside me. I was just leaving the army. She asked me, "What do you do?" I said, "I've just left the army. I've got a record deal. I'm moving to Los Angeles to record my first album. Her next question was, "Where are you going to live?" I said, "I haven't organized anywhere yet." Her third statement was, "Hey, well, then, you're going to live with me," and I did. It was the most amazing house to live in.

Her house was a madhouse of an extension of her mind. Got a Christmas tree 365 days a year set up, chandeliers on the trees in the garden, just English telephone boxes set up in the garden as well. A really beautiful and mad place.

Alison Stewart: Is it the home that's in the documentary?

James Blunt: Yes, exactly that. With her mum, Debbie Reynolds, living on the property as well.

Alison Stewart: She was so funny and so fierce.

James Blunt: Yes. She spoke directly and spoke from her heart, but always with kindness and with love. Let's listen to this track. It's called Dark Thought.

[MUSIC - James Blunt: Dark Thought]

I drove up the hill just to say goodbye

But all I found was a for sale sign

Put my hand on the gate and there's tears in my eyes

And all that's been left since the minute you died

Are the chandeliers in the trees, ceramic bees

Now they're just covered in leaves

My hands are shaking as I type in the code

The gate doesn't open, just a voice that says, "No"

But I know inside there's a piece of your soul

That they're painting over and everything else will be sold

And the piano that played on its own is not playing no more

I wish that you had called somebody (Oh)

And if I wasn't there, I'm sorry (Oh)

You made me believe you were strong

I wish you had called me and told me that something was wrong

So goodbye to my best friend ever

I can't believe you're gone forever

I came up to find you today

'Cause I finally found all the words that I needed to say

But a dark thought got there first

Alison Stewart: I've had a few people in my orbit pass away recently who were young, 40, 37, 52, and it really has me thinking about life a lot. When a dear friend like Carrie passes away, did it change the way you thought about life? Did it change your perspective?

James Blunt: Yes. We all suddenly realized how precious life is and how short life is. When someone goes too young, the consequences I suppose are left with us in difficult ways to deal with. You're left with often anger and guilt, and obviously remorse. For me, she died in 2016, but it took me a long time to write the song for her. It's been a while, and I struggled to find the words exactly that I wanted to say to my friend. Then the story really is just about going back to her house when I was in Los Angeles, not staying in the house that once was my home.

I had a mad moment where I drove up the hill just to say goodbye and put my hand on the gate just to feel something off, and shed a tear at that moment. Bizarrely, as I did that, a tour map, a caravan or mini bus, open-top mini bus with tourists pulled up showing different tourists where the various celebrities' houses were. The woman who was the tour guide said over the tannoy to these tourists, "On your left, you'll see the late great Carrie Fisher's house. As you can see, some fans are still deeply moved by her passing," and that was me.

Alison Stewart: That's darkly humorous. How did it feel to hear it? How does it feel to hear it played over the airwaves?

James Blunt: It's a big deal for me in many ways. It's my song that hurts, and it's out on the airways, and she may not hear it, but it's out in the ether.

Alison Stewart: I'd like to play the track, The Girl That Never Was, another emotional song. Would you tell us a little bit about this song before we hear it?

James Blunt: Yes, absolutely. I suppose this reflects a changing stage in my life. I wrote songs once upon a time as a young man writing songs for myself, and now I've gone through this huge change in life. I'm almost an adult. I have a wife and a young family. My parents are getting older. As that has started, those positions have changed. I met a girl, a woman. She has chosen to live with me, I hope for the rest of my life, if she's mad enough. We had aspirations to start a family. We have some successes. We are lucky and happy for those, grateful for those. We struggled with some other aspects, and there's battles that we've lost. I sum up in this song called The Girl That Never Was.

[MUSIC - James Blunt: The Girl That Never Was]

If I could say, a million words to take away the pain

What kills me is you're trying to take the blame

You're not to blame

I'll never say I told you so

But sad I've thought the words

Tried drowning you in happiness

I only make it worse

We never should've picked a name

'Cause now she has a face

And now no matter what we do

No one will take her place

Somewhere

She's probably dancing with her blonde hair

Falling like ribbons on her shoulders

Just like we always saw

Bright eyes

Spinning in circles in the sunlight

Darling we tried but now it's over

We had it all and then we lost

The girl that never was

I know we'll never know you

Alison Stewart: My guest is James Blunt. You can hear that song on his album, Who We Used To Be. Your song Monsters had a resurgence earlier this year because the American Idol winner, Iam Tongi. It went viral for the cover of it. He dedicated it to his late father. You joined him on stage. He looked like he was crying. What was going on in that moment?

James Blunt: It was a mad moment really on live TV in front of a few million people. He's singing my song, but he's singing it to his own father who was no longer with us, with him. What an amazing moment really to be all that emotion built up. For me, obviously, the song means something similar, but my father recovered. He was ill with kidney disease, so he's still alive.

Just to stand on a stage beside a man singing to his dead father on national television with all the emotion that went with it and then watch his face break down, was very difficult not to get overpowered by the emotion myself. Then for that little moment, I almost felt like I was the closest father figure I had to him to hold his arm and get him through that performance together. It was a great honor to be there with him.

Alison Stewart: You're okay if we play a little bit of it?

James Blunt: Yes, of course.

Alison Stewart: Let's listen.

[MUSIC - James Blunt: Monsters]

Oh, before they turn off all the lights

I won't read you your wrongs or your rights

The time has gone

I'll tell you goodnight, close the door

Tell you I love you once more

The time has gone

So here it is

I'm not your son, you're not my father

We're just two grown men saying goodbye

No need to forgive, no need to forget

I know your mistakes and you know mine

And while you're sleeping, I'll try to make you proud

So daddy, won't you just close your eyes

Don't be afraid, it's my turn

To chase--

Sleep--

Alison Stewart: You said your father had a kidney donation?

James Blunt: Yes, exactly.

Alison Stewart: I donated a kidney to my sister-

James Blunt: You are amazing.

Alison Stewart: -two months ago.

James Blunt: Amazing. Well, you are incredible.

Alison Stewart: What was his experience like? Never mind me. How's your dad? What was the experience like for him?

James Blunt: Really, almost the question is, how is the experience for you as a donor? Because for me, my father was given a kidney by a namesake. My father's name is Charles Blount, and another Charles Blount gave him a kidney, which obviously was a bit of a thing. When they were in the hospital, I was a bit nervous that they might take one and give to the wrong one, so I actually wrote on their forehead with a black marker pen, giver on the donor's-- [crosstalk]

Alison Stewart: Oh, that's funny. For mine they wrote left, this one, they put left right on my body.

James Blunt: My father is well, and as is the donor. I hope you are too, and amazing of you, and I hope your sister is well.

Alison Stewart: We're doing great. Have to ask about the 20th anniversary of Back to Bedlam and You're Beautiful. When was the moment when you realized, "My life's different"?

James Blunt: I got a phone call when I was in a hotel in Switzerland. I was about to support Jamiroquai at a festival there. There was a radio rep from the record label, who I don't think is supposed to call me, I think he's supposed to go through management, but he was so excited. He called and said, "James, you've knocked Coldplay off the top with the album Back to Bedlam, and the single has gone to number one as well."

I think I paced up and down. I put the phone down after that moment of excitement and then I paced up and down, swearing out of fear, thinking, "Wow, the world has suddenly changed." Exciting but frightening at the same time.

Alison Stewart: The name of the new album is Who We Used to Be. My guest has been James Blunt, and we are going to go out on You're Beautiful because it is a beautiful song.

James Blunt: Why not?

Alison Stewart: James, thanks for coming to the studio.

James Blunt: Thank you so much for having me.

[MUSIC - James Blunt: You're Beautiful]

My life is brilliant

My life is brilliant

My love is pure

I saw an angel

Of that I'm sure

She smiled at me on the subway

She was with another man

But I won't lose no sleep on that

'Cause I've got a plan

You're beautiful

You're beautiful

You're beautiful, it's true

I saw your face in a crowded place

And I don't know what to do

'Cause I'll never be with you

Alison Stewart: James Blunt's new album is called Who We Used to Be. That is All Of It for today. I'm Alison Stewart. I appreciate you listening and I appreciate you. I'll meet you back here next time.

 

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