Interview: James Morrison

16 September 2011

James Morrison is back with the follow-up to 2008's Songs For You, Truth's For Me.

We spoke to him about The Awakening, new single 'I Won't Let You Go', collaborating with Jessie J and live shows.

-You've got the new single coming out on Monday. Are you excited to get that released?
Yeah, of course. It's been a couple of years since I've had anything come out, so I'm a bit nervous, it's all good, man. I feel quite good about this album, it's a nice feeling.

-How would you describe the track?
A slow build. I wanted it to be like a universal song about being there for someone who needs you. It can be about your girlfriend if you want, but I tried to write it so that it was a bit more universal than that. It could be your friend, a family member or something.

-Do you try to be quite relatable with your lyrics then?
Yeah, I think the more universal the lyric, the better. You have to start from a small place. You can't start to write songs that get the whole world thinking, but they mean nothing to you. I always try to start from a small, intimate place, and go bigger from there.

-In terms of the style of the single, how far does it go in representing the album?
Every track is completely different. There's definitely a production thing that carries through the album. The sound of the horns and strings, a kit in the room, old-school backing vocals, but every track's different.

The next two singles are different from 'I Won't Let You Go'. 'I Won't Let You Go' is more in line with my last two albums than any of the other songs. I think it's a nice way to let people into the brand new album.

It's different enough that I think I've not stayed the same, but it's a nice link to the last two. The rest of the songs aren't like that as much.

-Were you pleased with how the album turned out as a whole?
Yeah definitely. I think as an album it's definitely an album. It's not just a load of songs I whacked together. I really tried to get a concept, an idea and a theme and carry it through. Make every song different, but let them sit together in a sentiment way. They sit together really well.

-Do you think having an album as an art form is still important?
Definitely. All my favourite albums are those that you can listen to from start to finish, and it tells a story. It creates a world that you can be in for an hour or so.

My last one was a bit more bitty. I had more producers, the songs were done in a studio, not with a live band. This time I wanted it to sound like a proper album.

-How was it working with Bernard Buttler on it?
Wicked, it was amazing. He's such a good guitar player as well. I knew he was good, but he's good because he knows when not to play. I don't think a lot of guitar players know that. They just want to rip it up, and he was the opposite.

He wanted to play as little as possible. Because he's like that, everything that he played was f****** amazing. The element that he brings on my album is something that I always wanted - a really good, nice-sounding electric guitar.

It's not overplayed, it's not rocky as such, it just gives it a darker element. A bit of blues, a bit of indyness. Just good electric guitar playing.

-You collaborated with Jessie J on the album, how was that?
It was awesome, man. She's awesome. She's a great singer. I was quite nervous to work with her to be honest.

She's intimidating, even as a bloke. She's tall, vivacious, she's sexy. She's got an amazing voice. She's a bit of a diva. I was quite nervous to work with her, but she was really funny, quite self-depricating.

When she got on the vocals, she knew exactly what she's doing. Because she's such a good singer, it took us a while to get her to stick to the melody. She can sing anything, so it took a while to hone it down to the main part we needed singing, but once she got there and did it in her own way, it was amazing.

-Is there anyone else you'd want to collaborate with in the future?
I used to say people like Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys...well, I'd still like to do stuff like that. I don't know...I'd want to try something completely different.

I've got a mate who does a lot of electronic stuff. I'd love to do a side-project where I'm not James Morrison, I just put a vocal on a fat beat or something.

I just want to keep changing it up. After this album, I definitely want to look at setting up my own label, or a side-project. I don't like feeling like I've got boundaries of what I can and can't do, just because I'm a singer-songwriter. At the same time, this album is penultimately what I want to be doing.

-Looking past the album, there's the UK in November. Are you looking forward to that?
Yeah, man. I'm always excited to be going on tour. It's why I do what I do, you know? Starting in a studio is an amazing experience, recording and writing.

When you play the songs you've spent a year and a half writing, sculpting in a little room somewhere, and you play them on a big stage - it's amazing. When you see everyone with you and singing along, it's a good feeling.

-You've also had a show at the MEN Arena announced in support of Children in Need. Can you tell us a bit about that?
I only found out about that today, right as I was coming up to talk to you. It was a surprise to me! I heard that Coldplay and Lady Gaga are playing. I feel very lucky to be involved. They're two massive acts.

-Do you think it's important for people with a platform to raise awareness of issues like this?
Not really, you're ego's most- nah, only joking! Of course it is man. it's one of the perks of the job, being able to raise awareness of charities. I just did a Samaritan's album with a friend of mine.

KT Tunstall's involved, Ed Harcourt. It's one of the perks of the job, to do something that's selfless and for someone else, but you still get to do what you enjoy doing.

It's a good feeling. It makes you feel like you're doing something more worthy than just sorting your own stuff out. Writing songs that transcend a language or barriers of countries, that's an amazing thing. To get that as well as raise money and help people, is an amazing feeling.

-What's planned after those live dates?
There'll be the odd gig here and there. I'm doing a lot of promo at the moment. The back-end of the year is getting ready to launch the next single. The album's out soon, so I'm just doing promo and that tour.