I'm sure it's a little scary being James Blunt. After all, his trajectory from ubiquitous chart topper to universally loathed singer-boy seemed to happen in a matter of weeks, and as Billboard points out in its review of his brand-new single "1973" (which is streaming now at AOL Music) he's already at serious risk of being dubbed a one-hit wonder (there in the U.S. anyway). The question is, does he deserve to be slapped with the dreaded label?
Based on "1973," I'm gonna have to say, "Most definitely." Granted, there's a strong chance I'm still suffering from a case of post-"You're Beautiful" Stress Disorder (PYBSD), but hearing Blunt's slippery mewl on this mid-tempo track makes me want to snap my ears off. Maybe it's the way he rhymes the name Simona with older ("old-ah"), sober ("sob-ah"), and over ("ov-ah"). Or is he actually saying "Simona" at all? Maybe he's actually singing to a woman named "Simone," but adding an "ah" sound to the end of her name in a bit of whimsical songwriting license. Or maybe her name is simply Mona, but he's adding the "ssaa" sound to the beginning of her name as an homage to Michael Jackson's "sha-mon" from "Bad"? I don't know. I'm just trying really hard to avoid focusing on the way Blunt keeps turning "seventy" into a two-syllable word ("Sev'n-ty). Also: This guy was wearing diapers in 1973. So how is it he and Mona/Simona/Simone will always be in a club in that very year? The more I think about it, the angrier I get. How 'bout you?
