Melancholic and reflective, James Blunt seems to be working through some demons on The Afterlove, be they past loves or his infamous No.1 from 2005 You’re Beautiful which gets referenced in song on his latest release on a few occasions.
While the opening numbers Love Me Better, Bartender and Lose My Number are melodic, the excuse to drop in bad language among the lyrics gets a little tedious to a point. Blunt does start making up for it as the album unfolds with the catchy Someone Singing Along and the genuine emotion of Courtney’s Song.
Definitely worth a couple of spins to cherry pick some new favourites that shows there’s more to the singer/songwriter than You’re Beautiful.
Andy Howells