James Blunt Releases Unheard ‘Wisemen (Demo)’: Listen
James Blunt has released a unheard demo of fan favourite Wisemen taken from his special remastered version of Back To Bedlam. The anniversary album is released on 11 October, 20 years to the day of its initial release.
pre-order ‘back to bedlam – 20th anniversary edition’ here
“Wisemen was one of the first songs I ever wrote, aged 17 in my dorm at boarding school,” James says of the track. “I didn’t record the demo till 11 years later… And this is it.”
Included in the special 20th anniversary release comes a special version of the original album remastered for 2024 by Stuart Hawkes at Metropolis, in addition to previously unreleased demos of the core songs from the album, plus previously unreleased songs from the Bedlam era.
Blunt explains; “I’ve released seven studio albums, but Back To Bedlam was the one people actually bought. So on its twentieth anniversary, the record label and I thought we should repackage it with some early demos, and milk it for all it’s worth. It was one of the biggest selling albums of the Noughties, so here’s hoping it makes a dent in the 20’s.”
Back To Bedlam featured the double platinum selling global smash hit You’re Beautiful and is one of the top 10 best-selling albums of the Noughties, with over 11 million copies sold worldwide. He’s won two Brit Awards, two Ivor Novello Awards and has received five Grammy nominations.
James will also take to the road in February and March next year to embark on a special run of UK and European arena dates for the ‘Back To Bedlam 20th Anniversary Tour’, where he will perform the Back To Bedlam album in its entirety, along with other classic hits from his career. The tour will also mark James’ return to London’s O2 Arena on 16 February. Tickets are available here.
Back To Bedlam 20th Anniversary UK Tour Dates
February 2025
Tue 11 BELFAST, SSE Arena
Thu 13 LEEDS, First Direct Arena
Fri 14 GLASGOW, OVO Hydro Arena
Sat 15 MANCHESTER, Manchester AO Arena
Sun 16 LONDON, The O2 Arena