James Blunt’s 12‑Year Long Love Song
“It was a slow burn. “I’ve kept that piano riff in my head for a decade and a half,” James tells Red. He laughed that friends kept dropping by, asking him to show off something fresh, but the idea kept slipping through his fingers.
From 12 Years to One Fine Track
- # Love Under Pressure: the fresh track on his new greatest‑hits package The Stars Beneath My Feet
- # 12‑year gestation: the piano part was a secret recipe until now
- # “I still have a sense of the old self” – a comment about the innocence he feels he’s lost since the early days
Even after two decades on the music scene, Blunt admits his songwriting chops feel “stronger.” Yet he worries that that extra polish means a loss of the un‑filtered joy that painted his first hits.
Balancing Competence and Naïveté
He says, “I feel more competent as a songwriter now, but the innocence has perhaps been stripped out of me.” In a nutshell: the craft has upgraded, but maybe the playfulness stayed on a shelf somewhere.
Twitter’s “Smack‑Down” and How He Got Rid of It
Blunt is renowned for witty banter on Twitter, but let’s admit – nobody likes a barrage of negative comments. He confesses that early on, being “in the spotlight” meant the sting of criticism got inside his gut.
He takes a very tidy approach: “If you don’t like something, just skip it.” He’d rather soak in the roar of thousands at a live show or feel the thrill of touring around the world. “One negative comment is the thing that sticks, strangely enough,” he jokes.
The ‘Big Bonus’‑Life of a Touring Star
- Living in Ibiza: clubs as a VIP pass already
- Free club entry: “I’ll take it.”
- Massive touring perks that keep the mood high
Blunt’s method? Count the positives, throw away the negatives, and keep adding the good vibes. That’s how he keeps the “beauty in naivety” alive while still rocking the world stage.
