Singer-songwriter James Blunt created a small stir yesterday when, ‘Bonfire Heart’, the first single from Blunts upcoming fourth album, ‘Moon Landing’ was inadvertently sent to millions of inboxes across the nation.
Confused internet users nationwide received an email titled, ‘I’d like you to be the first to hear my new single’, with details of ‘Bonfire Heart’, and a personalised description of the song. The singer tweeted shortly afterwards, ‘Oops….Just emailed the whole of the UK by mistake! Ha!’
A social media explosion shortly followed, with Blunts fans and detractors alike commenting on the unsolicited email. Notable excerpts include a tweet from musician Mikey Guitar stating, ‘If you receive an email with a link to the new James Blunt single, don’t click on it. It’s a link to the new James Blunt single’.
Whether the unexpected gift delighted or enraged its multiple recipents, the resulting media attention – not to mention the upwards of 30, 000 plays the song has received – has led some to speculate that the ‘mistake’ was a marketing ploy on Blunts part, to drum up publicity for his album. Scottish singer Nina Nesbitt tweeted, ‘Great marketing from James Blunt’s team I must say. Email the whole of the UK!’.
Warner Music has claimed that the incident was a ‘clerical error’, and that the singles details had been accidentally sent to customers who were signed up to other Warner artists.
Blunt, a former British Army officer, rose sharply to fame in 2004, when his debut album, ‘Back to Bedlam’ became the best-selling album of the decade in the UK, spawning several hit singles, including, ‘You’re Beautiful’ and ‘Wisemen’. His 2007 sophomore effort, ‘All the Lost Souls’ was a reasonable success, however by 2010’s tepidly received, ‘Some Kind of Trouble’ interest in the singer had waned somewhat. ‘Moon Landing’, the singers first release in almost three years, is due out in October.
‘Bonfire Heart’ will see official release on October 7th.
If you didn’t receive it yesterday, have a listen below to ‘Bonfire Heart’.
