BILL RYAN
BRITISH singer-songwriter James Blunt starts a South African tour with a performance at 8pm on August 24 at Durban’s International Convention Centre.
There will also be another treat for fans – to celebrate the 37-year-old musician’s visit, Warner Music Gallo Africa has released a special edition of Blunt’s third and latest album, Some Kind of Trouble.
Featuring the hits Stay the Night, So Far Gone and I’ll Be Your Man, the collection has already achieved gold status in South Africa and looks set to continue that sales trend with the reissue.
The special edition is a CD/DVD combination package that includes the videos for Stay the Night, So Far Gone and If Time Is All I Have, as well as a “making of” feature that allows fans a sneak peek into the making of the new album and the creative process from which it grew.
Available for a limited time only, the special edition CD also goes behind the scenes during the filming of the Stay the Night video.
Before his success as a singer, Blunt was an officer in the Life Guards, a cavalry regiment of the British Army, and served in Kosovo during the conflict there in 1999.
His first album, Back to Bedlam, was harshly criticised by some, with many reviewers deriding him as a squeaky-voiced warbler, but he became an instant star.
A five-time Grammy nominee, he first rocketed up world charts with the hits You’re Beautiful, Goodbye My Lover and 1973, and has sold more than 15 million albums worldwide.
His music offers a mix of acoustic-tinged pop, rock and folk, and he has been compared to Damien Rice and David Gray.
Blunt’s second album, 2007’s All the Lost Souls, debuted at No 1 in 10 countries, selling nearly 5 million copies globally and featuring 1973, Same Mistake and Carry You Home.
Blunt’s latest album, Some Kind of Trouble, includes key tracks So Far Gone, Superstar and Stay the Night, and marks Blunt joining songwriting forces with OneRepublic’s Ryan Tedder.
Blunt has repeatedly said how much he enjoys live performances and connecting with his audience: “Put the album out and get me on tour,” he says.
“We’re going to have the time of our lives playing these songs.”
Tickets for the Durban concert range from R221 to R426 and booking is at Computicket.
After the Durban date, Blunt is scheduled to perform at Joburg’s Coca-Cola Dome (August 26), the Indoor Sports Centre in Port Elizabeth (August 28) and at Cape Town’s Grand Arena, GrandWest (August 30).