We don’t need to introduce you to James Morrison; and yet, after reading this interview, you’ll begin to wonder whether you ever truly knew him.
We caught up with the gravel-voiced soul star for an open and frank discussion of James’ personal politics becoming entwined in his music, the emotionally draining nature of honest songwriting, and wondering whether he can – or has – remained relevant in a world full of male singer-songwriters.
You’ve just put out ‘So Beautiful’ as a single, but you wrote it ten years ago – why was now the right time to revisit it?
‘I think I’ve been through quite a lot in my personal life with my other half over the last few years. At the time of writing, the lyrical themes of the song were based more on a concept than anything I’d actually experienced, but now it feels like everything that’s in the song has now come true; I had to go through some shit with my wife to realise how important she is to me. It just felt more real ten years down the line than it did when I was twenty-one and it seemed like a more honest song than it did back then.
‘I’ve always tried to reveal the ‘human side’ to the music, and that’s part of what my power is – being a real person.
‘As long as the tunes are good, and the singing is on point, then I can be as normal as you like; if I wasn’t doing music that I felt good about, I’d probably have a bit of an attitude, but I’m lucky in that I’ve got my feet on the ground and that my desire to make music comes from a pure place. It’s not me trying to be famous and it’s not me wanting to be a big-shot – it’s just down to me wanting to do something creative that I think I’m good at.
It seems like, at any one time, creativity and simply being a human being do tend to go hand-in-hand.
‘Definitely. Being honest about all your flaws and what you went through to get those songs is part of the journey. To me, as an artist, I feel like if I don’t reveal what I’ve been through then the listener has to just imagine what it’s all about. I think I probably have revealed too much in the past, but I’d far rather be like that than to be a closed book. So many artists subscribe to the ‘tortured artist’ mentality, where they don’t talk about what’s going on and just focus exclusively on the sales. I’d rather just focus on the human aspect of the music.
There’s a real Motown vibe to the single, as well as to the wider album – was this present in the writing process or did this arrive later in the process?
‘I’ve always loved that time period of music: I think the voices were always really on point and the sound of the band was always a nice mix of warm bottom-ends and really pleasant melodies. I tried to hint on my love for that period on the first album, but that wasn’t really clear; in my opinion, the album came out sounding more ragged than it did Motown. So, I just wanted this new record to sound like all the old-school albums that I loved from that time period – get a band in a room, record it, and send it out.
There’s certainly an argument to be made that you can afford to take risks at this stage of your career; after all, you’ve certainly built up a fanbase.
‘Honestly? When we put out the first track from this album, I wasn’t sure if anybody was still going to want to listen to my music. There are so many male singer-songwriters out there now, and I thought I may well just be another number on the list; after all, there are plenty of James’s out there. I didn’t take any of that for granted – I just concentrated on making an album that I was happy with and treated everything else after that as an afterthought.
You’re touring throughout the Autumn, too – did you feel the same about the shows?
‘Yes, but less so. I just like touring, really, so I’m fairly relaxed about the entire thing. My band and I have been on the road for a while now – some of them have been around for ten years, others for five years – and we just try and give a decent show whether we’re in front of three hundred people or ten thousand.
‘I try not to over-think it: I used to over-think playing live a lot when I was younger, and I used to get really scared about it, but now I just want to make sure that we bring some sort of vibe. As long as there’s something there so that people can feel that you’re doing something sincere and beautiful then that’s all that matters to me.
Do you tend to write your songs from a uniquely personal point-of-view, or do you generally attempt a more character-centric angle?
‘A bit of both, really. Obviously, the songs that are more personal are generally more relatable, but it’s a little bit exhausting to do songs that are so emotionally draining; so, I try to do a mix of the two. Sometimes there’s a story behind a song, yet at other times an entire track might just be based on a lyric I particularly liked; but, a lot of the songs on this album are written about something, so I suppose that I’ve just been trying to write good songs that still have the emotional pull of a heart-wrenching ballad. I’m still working on that.
Out of all the songs that were ever recorded, which do you wish you’d written?
‘There are loads by Stevie Wonder. Mr. Know It All is one of them; I Wish; Superstition; Master Blaster; there are loads. I wish I’d written most of Stevie Wonder’s back catalog, actually… Then, there’s a lot of rocky stuff I wish I’d written, like Fortunate Son by Creedence Clearwater Revival – I love that song. Then there’s Hotel Califonia, Zion by Ms. Lauryn Hill, anything by Bob Marley, and a shed-ton more… I could go on for hours.
If you could put together a supergroup to jam with, who would you pick?
‘I’d have the drummer from Sly and The Family Stone, Andrew Newmark; then, I’d get Nathan Watts (who plays for Stevie Wonder) on bass; then, Billy Preston on organ; Jimi Hendrix on guitar, and Bob Marley’s backing vocalists. Done.
Describe yourself in three words?
‘Oh, shit. I’d say ‘loyal’ is one of them… This is hard. There’s a version of me that I am and then there’s a version that I wish to be, you know? I’d say that I’m jovial, actually, but I’m also quite deep – a mix of the two. That, I suppose, is my three.