James Blunt is on the promotional treadmill to plug Who We Used To Be, his first album since 2019. Four years in most currency is not a whole heap of time - it flies by, right? Perhaps.

But the past four years in the world of J. Blunt have been transformative, both in terms of his music and the perception of the man himself. The former has always been baffling, hinging primarily on the recurrent gag that the only James Blunt song anyone knows is his stratospheric 2005 single, ‘You’re Beautiful’.

Hilariously, the best wisecrack on the subject is delivered by Blunt himself, who refers to his 2021 greatest hits album as ‘The Greatest Hit And Songs I Wish You’d Heard’. However, swotting up on Blunt’s discography, that is simply not the case - all of his albums, a half-dozen of them to be exact, have been top ten hits.

Anyway, he doesn’t need me to fight his corner. Far from it, for he has become something of a King of X - his riotously terse replies to the vile specimens that troll him are tremendous. So good in fact, Constable published a compendium of them - 2020’s How To Be A Complete And Utter Blunt: The Diary Of A Reluctant Social Media Sensation. In the process, James has become a digital space hero for his crusade against the odious trolls.

I salute him and he offers his take.

“I mean, it’s a terrible place, X,” he muses. “People are just horrid to each other, with such an inflated sense of their own opinion and such a lack of civility in their dialogue with each other. But strangely, it’s a place where I thrive. Obviously, I’m just as bad as everyone else.”

Clearly not. Ain’t nothing wrong in fighting back. But let’s talk about the album, starting with ‘The Girl That Never Was’, a song about heart-wrenching loss. Darn, he nails it.

“Yeah, it’s miserable,” he deadpans. “It’s one of those things. Sometimes the inspiration is there, and sometimes you just say it, and the way you say it nails it. I feel I’ve got it on that one.”

That may appear a somewhat rudimental approach, but  I reckon James is been deceptively cavalier. Across the album, he deals with deep themes – ageing parents, fatherhood, the difficulty of long-term relationships, death – with a delicate, intuitive touch.

“Well, I guess that’s what I’m kind of going through,” James admits. “I wrote songs as a young man with a dream, with all this aspiration and hope. There were questions of who I might be, who I’d meet, what I would do, and some of those questions are answered now.

“At the same time, my position in the world is changing. And with that comes all these kinds of questions and inspirations, which at my age we start feeling. My parents are getting old and instead of looking after me, I’m looking after them. I’ve got kids that I worry about more than myself.”

Yes, the album is astute and cerebral, but not maudlin. There is more than a whiff of Italo disco on ‘Cold Shoulder’, while lead single ‘Beside You’ is vintage Balearic beat. It was recorded in several locations with big kahuna producers – Johnny Coffer, Mike Needle, Red Triangle  –  and at James’ studio in Ibiza. He nonchalantly mentions, “David Guetta was in the next studio, that’s why I’ve got a couple of dance tracks.”

James’ audiences are a combination of those who have grown up with him and younger gig-goers. True to form, he self-deprecates.

“My audiences have skewed very young,” he says. “I wonder if all the kids who were in the back of their parents’ cars all those years ago, were forced to listen to my music on these long car journeys. And they probably hate the music, but they still know all the words and they thought to themselves, ‘Come on! Let’s do it! Let’s go to the concert!’ Because all these young people in their early twenties are at the show, singing every word and it’s a wonderful sight.”

Twitter user Caitríona McG was not so content.

“I see you are not taking your tour to Ireland… how disappointing”, the X user posted, to which James replied, “Most people were grateful”. That’s funny. So too is his answer when I also press him on why there is no Irish date on the upcoming tour: “Well, you know, the Irish have good taste in music.” He jokes of course, telling me his people are working on getting an Irish date down the line.

There is also the not so small matter of James’ ‘non-memoir’, Loosely Based On A Made-Up Story. I imagine it’s definitely worth reading. After all, interesting stuff has happened to Blunt. His exchange with The Prodigy’s Keith Flint at the Q Music Awards stands out as one of the most touching memories of the music icon.

Elsewhere, Dave Grohl’s recent reasoning as to why he thinks Blunt is the craziest man in the history of music is bizarre (“I’ll take the compliment,” says Blunt). The song ‘Dark Thought’, meanwhile, is about the late film star Carrie Fisher, whose LA house James bunked in when recording his mammoth debut Back To Bedlam.

“I got a call from a Guardian journalist who had read it,” James laughs. “He said, ‘I loved it so much, but I have to warn you, you are going to get cancelled’. So, it’s good to talk to you before I’ve been cancelled.”

• Who We Used To Be and Loosely Based On A Made Up Story are out now.