James Morrison reveals how he's mending broken strings with new album release

Sign up to Roisin O’Connor’s free weekly newsletter Now Hear This for the inside track on all things music Get our Now Hear This email for free Get our Now Hear This email for free SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. “It was all style over substance, and I didn’t like it.” It wasn’t just the pressures of fatherhood that were weighing down on him, nor was it the fact that, after four years away from music, his territory had been overtaken by young pups like Ed Sheeran, George Ezra, Sam Smith and James Bay. “My whole upbringing had been negative, pretty much: never much money in the house, didn’t know where the next meal was coming from, all that stuff, but then I got out of it, I became James Morrison, singer songwriter, I had this new lease of life, and I finally felt OK about things… and then it all started to go wrong again.” He says all this in one long breath, not looking at me. On the opening track, “Demons”, he sings: “I close my eyes and talk to God/ Pray that you can save my soul.” The title track careens joyfully into something that sounds suspiciously like gospel, and elsewhere he sings: “For the first time in my life I feel I’ve done something right.” “I’d spent a long time tormenting myself, feeling horrible,” he says. “There are a lot of male singer songwriters around at the moment, aren’t there?” Enjoy unlimited access to 100 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music Sign up now for a 4 month free trial Sign up Enjoy unlimited access to 100 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music Sign up now for a 4 month free trial Sign up James Morrison was 21 when he released his debut album, Undiscovered.