Who We Used to Be is the seventh studio album by English singer James Blunt, released on 27 October 2023 through Atlantic Records. It was preceded by the release of three singles, including the lead, "Beside You", and "The Girl That Never Was".[1] It was released alongside Blunt's quasi-memoirLoosely Based on a Made-Up Story.[2] The deluxe version added four bonus songs.
Background
On 2 August 2023, Blunt announced the release date for Who We Used to Be, his first studio album since 2019's Once Upon a Mind.[3]
Blunt wrote the song "Dark Thought" about visiting his friend Carrie Fisher's house after she had died in 2016. The two met in England in 2003, and Blunt lived in Fisher's house in Los Angeles after he moved there to record Back to Bedlam (2004). Fisher had previously spoken about how she "became James's therapist".[4]
Singles
On 2 August 2023, Blunt released the single "Beside You". The official music video was released on 10 August 2023.[5] The single peaked at number 22 on the UK Singles Downloads Chart on 25 August 2023.[6]
The album's second single, "All the Love That I Ever Needed" was released on 22 September 2023.[7]
"The Girl That Never Was" was released as the album's third official single on 4 October 2023.[8] The official music video, released on 12 October 2023, was directed by Blunt's former collaborator Vaughan Arnell.[9] On 27 October 2023, Blunt performed the song on the BBC's The One Show. On writing the song, Blunt stated: "I'm married. We had aspirations to start a family and...people in my situation have gone through that, you win some battles and you lose some. And the ones that we have lost we struggle with a bit."[10] The single peaked at number 7 on the UK Singles Downloads Chart on 3 November 2023.[11]
Ludovic Hunter-Tilney of the Financial Times wrote that Blunt's "new songs slot neatly into the usual groove. They're efficiently assembled and easy on the ear. There are heartfelt clichés about life being like a carousel and tunes that press emotional buttons with military precision, all surging major chords and downcast minor ones".[2]Retropop commented that the tracks are "not all upbeat [...] and as Blunt declares his zest for life, he also navigates the challenges before him; aging, loss and the passing of time all play into the narrative that forms a complex picture of the performer, at the height of success, as he enters a new decade". The publication concluded that "there's no question it's one of his most confident offerings and, in terms of the songs themselves, his best in a long time".[14] Mike Milenko, reviewing for Clash, opined that the album is "one of Blunt's best albums to date and serves as a tantalising glimpse into the singer/songwriter's growth and maturity as an artist".[12] Pip Ellwood-Hughes, writing for Entertainment Focus, felt Blunt was the "freest" he had ever sounded, adding that he had "crafted a solid pop album".[16]
Commercial performance
On 30 October 2023 the UK's Official Charts Company revealed that Who We Used to Be was at number five on the midweek chart,[17] which it debuted at on the final chart.[18] The album stayed on that chart for two weeks; on the UK Album Sales Chart, Who We Used to Be charted for fifteen weeks.[19]
