James Blunt: 'I remember the smells of war and it is truly devastating'

In advance of gigs in Killarney and Dublin, the singer of You're Beautiful recalls his own soldiering days, and how he's used humour to bat away the haters 

James Blunt plays INEC Killarney on Friday, 

Contrary to what you may have read on social media, James Blunt doesn’t hate his own music. It is true the You’re Beautiful singer has a history of self-deprecating tweets ( “If you thought 2016 was bad.. I’m releasing an album in 2017”). But these are just jokes. Of course he loves what he does. If not, how could he get up on stage and sing his heart out?

“It means the world to me. And more importantly a tonne of people have gone out and bought it. And I wouldn't want to be disrespectful to them. They keep me with a roof over my head,” Blunt says over Zoom.