“You’re beautiful / You’re beautiful it’s true”. The words of James Blunt’s monster hit used to charm me when I first heard that song, but this hit got played out during its success days and, at the end, I was actually pretty done with it. I’ve heard a couple of songs from the singer-songwriter after, but for me he, more or less, disappeared from the scene.
It was quite a surprise to hear him pop up on a new dance track today. So much of a surprise that I actually started doubting myself and reconsidered my findings at first. At the beginning of the song, “OK”, with German DJ Robin Schulz (best known for the Mr Probz’s “Waves” remix), it’s undeniably sounding like James, but down the line I started losing his distinctive sound. It’s exactly that sound that make you either love him, or hate him.
But his vocals were not the only thing that confused me. What on earth was he doing on a dance track?! I never would’ve expected that and I never would’ve expected that it actually works. To me, he just has the picture perfect sound for a singer-songwriter and he was just an incredible fit for what he was already doing. However, I’m glad to hear a different side to him. As you know, I appreciate artists who step out of their comfort zone.
And James keeps surprising me with the video for this song too, where all of his memories get stripped from his mind and he shows a little bit of acting skills, here and there.
But the thing that stands out the most of the track itself, are its lyrics. I’m kind of looking around for songs to perhaps rework to a cover for YouTube (and other social media) and this song is a contender. The lyrics would work so well if this is turned into a ballad (and I hate giving good ideas away).
For Robin Schulz, this is the second single released from his third album and James had also released a new album earlier this year, so both are sure to benefit from their collaboration.
