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After selling almost 13 million records with the massively successful pop band Blue, Duncan James has followed his band mates and is all set to release his debut solo album Future Past, a heartfelt collection of twelve perfectly crafted pop songs about love, loss and relationships.
Future Past is a journey of many moods. The lyrical content of the album was of utmost importance to Duncan when writing. However, despite writing and recording such personal music, Duncan is not afraid to say he’s scared at the prospect of becoming a solo artist after five years of being in a band with his best mates. “I’m really nervous about going it alone but also extremely excited,” says Duncan. “I can’t wait to get back out there and perform again; it’s what I love best.” You can read more about what Duncan has to say in this Record interview.
You have a debut solo album. What’s it about?
Duncan: My album is called Future Past and it’s got a load of songs that I’m really happy with, really proud to say that I’ve co-written them or I’ve written them and so I’m really pleased with the out-come. Steve Lipson produced the whole album to a really high quality. The album is filled with real musicians playing real instruments, so there’s real strings, real guitars, real drums, etc., which for me, coming from Blue where everything was made on a computer, is really refreshing. And it’s just a great song-based pop album that I think people will really enjoy.
What does the title signify? Why did you choose such a title for the album?
Duncan: It’s called Future Past because I didn’t want to call it anything. I didn’t want to call it just a name of a song from my album, I wanted to call it something that meant something more. Future Past means going into the future as a solo artist, but remembering my past, which was Blue. I wouldn’t be here today, if it wasn’t for Blue, so it kind of sums everything.
Do you think your fans will accept the album?
Duncan: It’s very different from Blue, but not isolating the fans of Blue. It’s a natural progression for me as an artist and I think that people will kind of appreciate my music. Hopefully they will like what they hear. I think my audience is not just kids, its older people as well. So people of all ages can enjoy, especially those who appreciate good music. Everybody has an opinion, everyone has a right to an opinion, everybody has a musical taste. And I’m really happy with the music that I’ve done and really proud of what I’ve achieved. Hopefully you guys will like it too.
What is your first single all about?
Duncan: The first single is a track called Sooner Or Later. It’s the most commercial track off the album. I wanted to release it because it’s an up-tempo, feel-good song. It’s a song about being out of a relationship but finding new love. It’s got a nice message and hopefully it’s inoffensive. It’s just got a nice melody, nice guitars, nice music and a commercial slice to launch me and establish me as an artist again.
Can you tell us something about the track Can’t Stop A River?
Duncan: It’s a track that’s been written by Seal. Seal is a fantastic singer in his own right and a great artist, and to have a song penned by him is first of all a great honour and I hope and I think I’ve done justice to it. I’m really excited about that track. It’s a really nice kind of ballad with a cool smooth jazz kind of feel. It’s kind of a sexy song as well and it’s got a really nice message something like ‘…can’t stop my heart from loving you’.
You can read the rest of our feature on Duncan James in the June 2006 issue of The Record Music Magazine available at your local newsagent.
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