James Blunt - Back To Bedlam (CD 2005)

Some ageing rockstar once said that what he feared most, in a musical sense, was the songwriting well running dry. That's something that's unlikely ever to worry James Blunt. He has, it can be said without exaggeration, lived a life that should provide enough material for a dozen albums, with sufficient left over for a couple of screenplays. Sure - that's what all the singer-songwriters say. But this is a definitively different singer-songwriter.

Take "No Bravery", the song that closes his debut album, "Back to Bedlam", for instance: It was written in Kosovo in 1999, while James was a reconnaissance officer in the British army. On patrol around Pristina, he kept his guitar bolted to the outside of his tank. But in quieter moments, it came out, as he wrote about life as a 22-year-old peacekeeper in the aftermath of one of the decade's bloodiest civil wars. The rest of his unit ordered him to keep the noise down as he wrote and sang in the post-midnight stillness. He didn't keep the noise down. "'No Bravery' is the only complete song I wrote in Kosovo. I wrote it lying by my tank in my sleeping bag with my boots on. You had to sleep with your boots on. The song is pretty fatalistic. The rest of the album is fatalistic," he says wryly.

But his Kosovan experience is only one aspect of a new artist who's destined to find his way into a lot of record collections. Essentially, James is a find - an old soul who's somehow unafflicted by cynicism, a young writer who sounds likes he's been doing this for years, an angelic voice who's had a heck of a ride.

Back to Bedlam is one of those cd’s that you overplay once you get it, knowing that you will burn it out and have to retire it but you just don’t care. If you are one of those people that likes to have a soundtrack for life, reserve this one for cold pensive days, or when you want to take a quick shot of emotional truth to make the mundane fade away. Currently, “Goodbye My Lover”, “Tears and Rain” and the final track “No Bravery” have me wondering and imagining the lyrical history of these tracks. My favorite is still “No Bravery” after listening to the entire album a few times, but the smooth anthem “High” is gaining ground quickly.

Back to Bedlam is a refreshing record, but one that will draw both fans and haters. You will most likely immediately put it into your top 6 disc rotation or get sick of the English lullaby tunes and throw it out the window. Either way, it is worth a listen – you can decide for yourself but I believe you will be seeing grammy nods thrown at Mr. Blunt left and right in the year to come.