East:
#8 Heat Vs. #1 Celtics: Celtics in 6
#7 76ers Vs. #2 Knicks: Knicks in 6
#3 Bucks Vs. #6 Pacers: Pacers in 7
#4 Cavaliers Vs. #5 Magic: Magic in 6
West:
#8 Pelicans Vs. #1 Thunder: Thunder in 6
#7 Lakers Vs. #2 Nuggets: Nuggets in 5
#3 Timberwolves Vs. #6 Suns: Suns in 7
#4 Clippers Vs #5 Mavericks: Mavs in 7
East:
Bulls Vs Hawks: Bulls in 2
76ers Vs Heat: Heat in 3
West:
Kings Vs Warriors: Warriors in 3
Pelicans Vs Lakers: Pelicans in 3
James Blunt is back with his seventh album “Who We Used to be” his first full album
since 2019(Once Upon a Mind) but his first since the release of his greatest
hits album “The Stars beneath my Feet”. That album had some unreleased or bonus
songs but put three new singles so this new album gives fans ten new songs and
he even released a quasi-memoir “Loosely Based on a Made-Up Story”.
Overall this album hits on what makes
Blunt a successful singer-songwriter-musician is by songs that are easy on the
ear and that are catchy. His usual tone is all depressing songs back in his
youth but has become more upbeat later on but still has challenges before him
like aging, loss and the passing of time as it glimpses into his growth and
maturity as an artist.
There are some more heavy pop songs like
“Some Kind of Beautiful”, “Beside You”, “I won’t die with you” and “Cold shoulder” that all are catchy hitting on his good lyrical career. Three of them
sound like EDM or that you are in a club or have some fast talking. The first
one sounds like a previous song “Superstar” and the second one sounds like the
style of the album “The Afterlove” which can be good and bad. What is
surprising is the first track on the album “Saving a Life” isn’t a single
because it is a really good start to the album with great lyrics.
The rest of the tracks are emotional
like “The Girl that never was” which is about his marriage that “You win some
battles and you lose some. And the ones that we have lost we struggle with a
bit”. The issue is it feels longer than it really it as it drags on a bit. While
“All the Love That I ever needed” which is one of the singles sounds like a
typical song from his catalog as it is about the struggles of aging. One of his
best songs “If Time is all I have” from a previous album it’s kind of reminiscent
of the song “Last Dance” which is all
about living in the moment and not letting opportunities go.
The final two tracks are really
emotional as one is about his relationship with Carrie Fisher in “Dark Thought”
with him visiting her house after she had died in 2016 as the two met in
England in 2003 and he lived in Fisher's house in Los Angeles after
he moved there to record his first album Back to Bedlam. Fisher had previously
spoken about how she "became James's therapist". So it is a very good
song about losing a loved one no matter if it was a relative or a friend who is
like family in the shades of “So Long Jimmy” and “Monsters” his previous tracks
about loss. The final song “Glow” is a good way to end the album with another
really good message about letting your light glow, so don’t keep it in and
about aging, as well as it similar to the track “Shine On” from the "All the Lost Souls" album.
It is nice to see the progression from
soldier turned musician of mostly depressing songs from the first few albums to
getting increasingly happier in later albums as he ages into a different stage
of his life. He is married with kids writing about the struggles of middle
agedness as he turned fifty this year. This album is another strong addition to
his discography where there isn’t much that you need to skip as it might be one
of his best albums to date, as it could be his fourth best album. Depending on
your mood you can turn on any of his albums for your mood from sad, happy or
angry, or even parties. He has a point with the title of “Who we used to be” he
has found who he used to be by coming out with a really good album sounding
like some of his old works.
