Dispensing with the brooding insularity of 2007's sophomore affair
All the Lost Souls
,
James Blunt
opts for optimism on his third album, 2010's
Some Kind of Trouble
. The shift in tenor is immediately apparent on the jaunty acoustic opener
"Stay the Night"
and the slick, sleek pulse of
"Dangerous,"
a song tailor-made for upscale cocktail hours, and if
Blunt
occasionally slows the tempo, he never strays from this aesthetic, never letting his ballads drift into the morose. In a sense, this lightness suggests that
has succumbed to his role as a MOR crooner, as there are no attempts at
David Grey
profundity as there were on
, but ultimately, this is for the best because
's strength is his embrace of soft rock cliche, whether he's murmuring about a
"Heart of Gold"
over crawling chords, or cheerfully bouncing along on
"I'll Be Your Man."
Occasionally, he is hamstrung by the incessant, inherent whine in his voice, which always benefits from the dressing of production, and which is why the propulsive tunes here, like
"These Are the Words"
are the best. But
is a step in the right direction for
, a move toward love songs free of pretension. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine