James Blunt Ditches the Folk Rock for Pop-Centric Album ‘The Afterlove’

Stephanie Hernandez

Love it or hate it, in 2005 it was hard to imagine a world without James Blunt’s “You’re Beautiful” blasting from every car stereo in America. The release of his debut studio album, “Back to Bedlam,” pushed the former British army officer into the international music spotlight, where his sentimental folk rock was able to take hold. Oddly enough, this is when Blunt seemed to mysteriously fall off the radar, his following three records not packing quite the same mainstream appeal as his debut. It felt as if this once inescapable artist had seen his end. This lack of widespread fanaticism surrounding his more recent ventures may perhaps be the reason for the pop-centric release of “The Afterlove.” Collaborating with a variety of musicians and producers, most notably the radio great Ed Sheeran, Blunt’s latest effort on paper read as an instant success. Yet his fifth studio record and his first true plunge into the world of blatant surgery pop may prove to be a bit too saccharine for good taste.

For his first record since 2013’s mellow “Moon Landing,” Blunt garnered the help of well-known industry producers and songwriters like Ryan Tedder (Madonna,U2, Adele), Amy Wadge (Ed Sheeran), and Johnny McDaid (Ingrid Michaelson, Harry Styles) to assist in his move to the pop world. The problem is, that’s exactly what it sounds like. “The Afterlove” doesn’t feel like that incarnation of James Blunt the world fell in love with – the solo acoustic guitar-playing Englishmen with a tender heart. Instead, “The Afterlove” gives the impression of an artist being pumped and pulled through the Top 40 machine to create something heavy-handed, not dishonest, but not completely vulnerable either. From its falsetto- sprinkled opening “Love Me Better” to the odd lyrical content of “Bartender,” the record sounds more like the ramblings of a former boy band member searching for love than the reflections of a happily married man. Not that there is anything particularly wrong with the former, but when it’s a 43-year-old man singing the chorus, it can feel a bit out of touch. Though there is something to be said for artistic growth and experimentation, James Blunt’s foray into bubblegum pop does not seem to suit his talents nor his voice.

Exchanging his sweet, smooth ballads out for Maroon 5-style, quippy verses and over-simplified, repetitive four-chord melodies, what’s lost here is the sincerity James once embodied.  The album’s one saving grace does come when “Make Me Better,” a track co-written by longtime friend Ed Sheeran, becomes a mid-record savior. It’s free flowing, heartfelt and genuine, elements we wished more of the record possessed.

Stepping away from his pure folk rock love songs into new territories, “The Afterlove” left us wondering whether or not this album was really a labor of love from this typically romantically inclined singer/songwriter – or if it was simply a collection of tracks to push himself back into the limelight. Either way, what the album lacks are the very things that made James a star in the first place: simplicity and blunt proclamations (pun intended).

“The Afterlove” is available on Apple Music March 24.