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SCMP Reporter

While serving as a reconnaissance officer in the Nato peacekeeping force in Kosovo, James Blunt not only dodged  bullets but also laid  the groundwork for what would become his future career as a singer-songwriter.
Strapped to the outside of his tank was his trusty guitar  and on some quiet nights during the 1999 Balkan conflict Blunt would take out his instrument and perform for his men and various locals.
It was during this time that he composed the song No  Bravery, which became the closing track on
his 2004 breakthrough album Back  to Bedlam.
Blunt left the British army  in 2002  and describes his stint in the forces 'as a time of great extremes,
a view of humans at their best and worst'.
'Yes, of course, the experience ... affected the way I am and also [affected] world politics. I saw the way societies interact and grow - and sometimes destroy each other.'
Service in the armed forces is  a family tradition for Blunt, who was born in a military hospital the son of a colonel in the British  Army Air Corps. But while his father saw music as an unnecessary distraction, his mother introduced Blunt to the violin at the age of five and laid the foundations for his future musical career.
And after a few false starts, his career  took off in a big way following the release of third single, You're  Beautiful,  which received massive airplay and helped propel Back to Bedlam to the top of the British album charts. The follow-up All the  Lost Souls went gold within four days of its British release in September last year and by the end of January had sold 3.5 million copies internationally.
'The first album was innocent in many ways. I see it as simple dialogue between you and me,' Blunt says ahead of his debut appearance in Hong Kong next Thursday. 'The second album is more complex - it's more musically accomplished. I pushed myself more and became more musically involved. I had to deal with lots of things in the past  21/2  years, so the dialogue is not so simple any more.'
Blunt says he approaches songwriting in the same manner as writing a diary.
He looks back at his relationships, his days in the army, 'my consciousness and understanding of the world, the isolation, the fear in my mind [as I search] for greater depth in meaning in life and the need for connections with other human beings along the way'.
When You're Beautiful hit No 1 one on the Billboard  Hot 100, Blunt became the first British artist to top the US singles charts since Elton John's Candle in the Wind 1997.
Beautiful has become so ubiquitous that its hard to separate it from the artist himself and Blunt has said it was inspired by a former girlfriend he first saw in the London subway. He has never revealed the name of the woman, but the lyrics tell the story of a love affair that was never meant to be.
'I think we have all experienced that somehow. Probably that's why people feel connected to the song,' he says.
Despite his sudden rise to global stardom, Blunt sounds as if he's trying to keep his feet on the ground and  is still searching for something more meaningful than pop music.
'I guess that whatever happens, one has to understand that success in music is not defined by a song's position on the charts, but instead by the great pleasure and passion that I have for it,' he says.
'The world is obsessed with fame and fortune, but in this age we need to recognise that we are capable of so much more and should focus on the wars around us, the poverty and disease that exist, and on climate change.
'These are the things we should turn our attention to. To me, that's more relevant than fame.'
One step he's taking in that direction involves his work with Medecins  Sans Frontieres, the humanitarian medical organisation Blunt encountered during his  time in Kosovo.
'They are amazing, generous people who give their time and energy to saving people's lives in areas affected by natural and human disasters,' Blunt says. 'I was blown away by that and I am now trying to raise awareness for them.'
James Blunt All the Lost Souls Tour Live in HK 2008, May 15, 8pm, Convention and Exhibition Centre, Wan Chai. HK$480-HK$880, HK Ticketing, tel: 31 288 288



Balladeer makes sense of it all through music