James Blunt has a new album out!

Oh no! Best familiarise yourself with the video so that you know what to do in an emergency.

The album's called "Some Kind of Trouble" and he seems to have gotten sneaky this time because his face isn't on the cover. This is presumably an attempt to trick the more foolish of us into buying it in the mistaken belief that it's, I don't know, a mis-printed Dinosaur Jr. B-sides compilation? So to make sure you're ahead of the game, keep an eye out for this image:

If you see it at your local music store, the generally accepted protocol is to cover the album with another album by a better artist. Blur, Blondie and the B-52s are all popular choices due to their alphabetical proximity, but don't be afraid to get creative! There's nothing more fun than the thought of a James Blunt fan scouring HMV for their idol's new masterpiece, working their way from B to Bl to Blu, only to be greeted by a Cannibal Corpse album.

There's already been debate in the house as to whether we should be so afraid of James Blunt or if, on the contrary, we owe him our props because he prevented World War III. I'm sure you've all worked out where I stand by this point, so if you are a fan then feel free to ignore this warning, buy the album, even go and see him live at St. David's Hall on February the 24th if you're that into him. If you think my disdain for the Bluntster is totally unfounded, then by all means hit Hell No! and never read the blog again.

As for the rest of you, here is a song I have written in the style of James Blunt. It's called:

Watching Over Me

Who can say?

Who can say when will come the day,

When everything that we know changes?

I loved you,

I loved you and you loved me too,

But you could never see this through.

And the day it died,

Well of course I cried,

But I won't stay down,

I won't come untied,

There's still hope, you'll see,

You'll come back to me,

There's an angel watching over me,

There's an angel watching over me,

Oh, oh.

There's a chance,

There's a chance that it could all go back,

To the way it was before I lacked.

Do you hear?

Do you hear my song in your bed at night?

Do you wish somehow it could be alright?

And the day it died,

Well of course I cried,

But I won't stay down,

I won't come untied,

There's still hope, you'll see,

You'll come back to me,

There's an angel watching over me,

There's an angel watching over me,

Oh, oh.

Is it true?

Is it true that I could be with you,

'Cause it all seems lost, so can love come through?

And the day it died,

Well of course I cried,

But I won't stay down,

I won't come untied,

There's still hope, you'll see,

You'll come back to me,

So I'll close my eyes,

And I'll count to three,

I took up my cares,

With The Man Upstairs,

And he said that he would make repairs,

Did I make mistakes?

Did you make them too?

Are there angels watching over you?

And if it's all over,

Will they get you through?

* * *

So there we are. James Blunt.

Joel.

P.S. As wrong as it seems to even mention them in the same blog post as James Blunt, Titus Andronicus are an excellent band for whose live show I am going all the way to Bristol tomorrow. I am about 7/10 excited right but I expect this to climb rapidly over the next 24 hours.