The Big Stage

James Blunt @ Plymouth Pavilions

James Blunt shot to fame in 2005, dominated the 2006 Brit Awards ceremony and three days later played to a sell out crowd of 4,000 at Plymouth Pavilions.

Almost two years since his last appearance in the city, James Blunt is back at Plymouth Pavilions on Friday 18 January 2008.

Since releasing ‘Back to Bedlem’ James Blunt has sold eleven million CDs worldwide, with his album reaching No.1 in eighteen countries and charting in the top 10 in a further thirty five. His fantastic list of accomplishments includes being nominated for five Grammys, landing the first No.1 single in the US (’You’re Beautiful’) by a British act since Elton John’s ‘Candle in the Wind’ in 1997 and winning two MTV Awards and two Brit Awards.

After heading off to write his second album in Ibiza in 2006, James Blunt is back with his latest offering ‘All The Lost Souls’ (released Monday 17 Sept 2007) which features the hit single ‘1973′ which reached No.4 in September 2007.

In fact, some songs from his new album may be familiar to fans who were lucky enough to see him at his Plymouth gig back in 2006, as five of the songs were written and tested while out on the road!

Recorded in Los Angeles, both the single and album were produced and mixed by Tom Rothrock, who oversaw ‘Back To Bedlam’. “For me, there was absolutely no pressure whatsoever,” says James. “Having sold over 11 million albums, I know that the likelihood of doing that again is really minimal. Instead of setting that as a target, I set out to do and record something that I really enjoy, that I’m really happy with.”

‘All The Lost Souls’, is a 10 song album about life and death, showing 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.”

The album opens with the layered, rollicking ‘1973’, a nostalgic look back at sharing great times with friends. Songs such as ‘One of the Brightest Stars’ and ‘Annie’ deal with the vagaries and distortions that fame can bring. ‘Carry You Home’ and ‘I’ll Take Everything’ tackle our fragile mortality, while ‘I Really Want You’ and ‘Same Mistake’ showcase Blunt at his most vulnerable.

With the recording behind him, Blunt is eager to get back before his fans. “Touring is the most fun you can possibly have,” he says. “It’s the best invention anyone ever came up with.” Yet even he imagines a day – hopefully in the far, far future – when the audiences are no longer there. On the album’s closer, ‘I Can’t Hear the Music’, he sings with a quiet resolve that even after the fans’ applause has faded and the curtain has come down for the last time, the music remains. For Blunt, it’s a song of hope and an ultimate reminder of why he’s here. “The chorus sums it up: ‘And if I can’t hear the music and the audience are gone, I’ll dance here on my own’. It’s about saying I’m in it for the passion,” he says. “I’m in it for the love of it, and the audience may be a temporary thing.”

For more information check out the website  www.plymouthpavilions.com

To book tickets contact the Box Office on 0845 146 1460

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