James Blunt has told Music Week that Ed Sheeran encouraged him to take a more direct lyrical approach for new album The Afterlove.
Sheeran is one of several co-writers who collaborated with Blunt on the album, his first since 2013’s Moon Landing, which peaked at No.2 and has sold 389,045 copies to date.
“I stopped writing about my life after getting a fair amount of stick after [2005 debut] Back To Bedlam,” Blunt said. “Ed said, Come on, you’re a songwriter and I loved your first album, you need to be direct like you were then. Then we wrote Make Me Better [dedicated to his wife and child], which tells you exactly what’s going on in my life right now. It’s the most romantic song Ed Sheeran has ever written in my life!”
Reflecting on songwriting sessions at his home in Verbier, Switzerland, Blunt continued: “We get on well. We have a similar hobby, namely alcohol, and we enjoy messing around. We can write for a moment, then have a drink and come back to it.”
Joining Sheeran on the co-writers list for The Afterlove are Ryan Tedder, Amy Wadge, Johnny McDaid, Stephan Moccio, and MoZella. The album is released on March 24 via Atlantic.
Read the full interview, in which Blunt and his team discuss campaign strategy, Twitter and misconceptions over his previous material, in the new issue of Music Week, out now or click here to read it online.
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