ReZoom

James Blunt knows that lightning doesn't strike twice. Therefore, the pressure is off before his new album, "All the Lost Souls" even comes out Sept. 18.

Its predecessor, "Back to Bedlam," sold more than 11 million copies worldwide and was nominated for five Grammys in the U.S. While it was best represented stateside by the seemingly inescapable single "You're Beautiful," the album was bolstered by four other hits around the rest of the world.

"Immediately, people started to talk about the pressure to achieve the same kind of sales performance as the first and I just recognize immediately that that's not going to happen," Blunt says, citing not only the general odds, but also steadily slipping CD sales in the marketplace. "Eleven million is just a bizarre number. I didn't expect that in the first place. I thought 100,000 was ridiculously good to be talking about."

He's also prepared for the slings and arrows thrown by reviewers, many of whom turned on Blunt as his fame and sales rose. "There have been quite a few people taking their shots at what I've been doing," he says. "So with that in mind, I might as well just have fun, let's do this purely for my own pleasure."

That freedom shows on "All the Lost Souls." The album teems with emotion from the giddiness of first single "1973" to the sorrow of "Carry You Home" and the cynicism of "Annie."

Blunt wrote part of the CD while on the road and the remainder at his home in Ibiza. Drawn largely from Blunt's experience of going from unknown to superstar in less than three years, the album puts fame under a microscope. While most of us can't relate to the rarified air of celebrity, Blunt takes his adventures and runs them through a down-to-earth filter. "They're all human experiences," he says. "I still have friendships and connections." Only now, he ruefully adds, the tabloids are likely to take note. "My mother's been calling me and saying you should really stop going clubbing because everybody's seeing it and they'll think you don't work very hard."

But a plus side of celebrity is using it to espouse causes. "I very much believe that I am not a role model and I wouldn't want anyone to follow what I do just because [I'm] in the public eye, but there are certain things that I do believe in and I do champion those," he says. That includes climate change. For example, he played July's Live Earth show in London. He also touts Doctors Without Borders because, as a former British soldier in Kosovo, he saw their work first hand. "I was in a war and the people I was most impressed with and blown away by their selflessness was Doctors Without Borders. (They) consistently beat me around every corner without rewards and protection and are doing a phenomenal job of saving people's lives."

He admits supporting such causes also gives him something to speak about other than a subject he often tires of himself. "I found myself talking about myself so often that I was boring myself," he laughs. "Then I thought, ‘Hang on, here's something that I could talk about that I'm enthused by.'"

He's also quite enthusiastic when it comes to talking about touring. In addition to enjoying the camaraderie with his band mates, he's found a trusting communion with his audience. "I don't feel any sense of adoration or idolization. The complete opposite is what I'm after through music. It's a shame that one has to be elevated on stage just to be seen, but that's just because I'm small," he jokes. "But the magic of that is other people are connecting with the same emotion, they relate to it because they are the same as me: fundamentally human."