James Morrison wants to go down as a "f***ing legend" in British soul music.
James Morrison
The 'Broken Strings' star - who will take his music in a new direction with upcoming album 'You're Stronger Than You Know' - is keen to embrace his wider influences and prove that he can be more than he's been portrayed as with his earlier material, while he wants to shrug off comparisons to the likes of Jame Blunt and Coldplay.
Speaking exclusively to BANG Showbiz, he said: "In my head, on a really good day I think I could be a classic singer, soul singer. On bad days, I'm just a pop singer who could be compared to Chris Martin or Blunty easily. I'm like, what the f**k? I don't want to be that.
"I'm much more than that, and I suppose it's annoyed me over the years that I haven't been able to deliver what I feel like I need to deliver to become a classic British soul singer. I want to be a remembered as a British great. I'm not f***ing about - I want to be a f***ing legend!"
After the release of 'Higher Than Here' in 2015, James - who teased working with Paul Weller and Stereophonics' Kelly Jones in the near future - was dropped by Island, and his upcoming fifth album will be released with friends through the Stanley Park label, which was created for this next stage of his career.
For the 34-year-old singer, the label change - and the fact he wrote much of the album while he was having relationship troubles with his wife Gill - has lit a fire in him.
He explained: "Maybe if I hadn't gone through any of this personal stuff and the last album had sold loads of copies, I might not have even got to this point yet!
"I'd probably carry on doing what I was doing for a couple more years. This is safe, just give the people what they want. But this time, because of the s**t going on in my personal life, and being dropped, it's pushed me to do what I want to do, on my own terms."
And James admitted there was pressure earlier in his career to continue to replicate the early success of debut LP 'Undiscovered', but he is now able to focus on his family and working on the music he wants to make.
He added: "You feel like you need to deliver and please other people... It's only now that I've got the confidence. I've had kids, I've been through so much in my personal life, I feel the confidence to say 'I'm not doing that!'
"It's took me a long time to find my b*****ks and trust myself, and my thoughts about what I want to be musically, and how I carry myself... It feels like this is my year. I've had a few s**t years, and this year I'm f***ing having it."
'You're Stronger Than You Know' will be released on March 8 through Stanley Park.
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