The Afterlove is the fifth studio album by English singer James Blunt, released on 24 March 2017 through Atlantic Records.
Background
On 23 January 2017, Blunt posted a video clip on his Twitter to announce
The Afterlove, with the caption "Check out my 12 inch..." In the clip, Blunt appeared naked from the waist up in his bathtub, promising to show fans "something huge", with the camera then panning down to him holding a 12-inch copy of the album.
Blunt recorded the album between 2015 and 2016 before it was finished in early 2017.
Critical reception
At
Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics,
The Afterlove received an average score of 54 based on 4 reviews.
Neil Z. Yeung from
AllMusic gave the album a positive four-star review, writing: "The Afterlove is a brave bid for contemporary relevance in 2017, a wonderful step outside his Blunt's comfort zone that is more memorable and exciting than much of his output this decade."
Ludovic Hunter-Tilney from the
Financial Times gave a positive three-star review and called the songs "carefully structured", with "appealing melodies, on-trend chart pop production and A-list collaborators (including
Ed Sheeran) that attest to Blunt's musical staying power."
Richard Godwin of the London Evening Standard gave a mixed two-star review, summarising that "the self-deprecating singer songwriter has not lost his way with sentiment" and that the album "finds the former soldier renovating his balladry by means of an R'n'B filter and a few tricks learned from his label-mate: judicious use of auto-tune, choppy guitar grooves and disarming honesty." Godwin also called "Bartender" "catchier than the common cold."
Singles
The first single from the album, "Love Me Better", debuted at number 93 on the UK Singles Chart.
The second single, "Bartender", was released on 10 March 2017 along with an accompanying music video.
Promotional singles
"Time of Our Lives" was released on 14 February 2017 as a promotional single for Valentine's Day.
This was followed by the release of "Make Me Better" on 2 March 2017.
Track listing
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
