To put it Bluntly…

But it is only slightly cooler to admit being a James Blunt fan than it is to confess to being an admirer of Nickelback.

Blunt grins.

“I’m not too fussed about what’s cool or not,” he says.

“What’s cool is generally what’s not in the mainstream. And I don’t mind the grief I get. I have a thick skin and a sense of humour. Also, all these people engaging with Bonfire Heart are putting their heads above the parapet, so I appreciate that.”

It would be daft to regret the massive spike in success that came with the Back To Bedlam album (and particularly the hit single You’re Beautiful), but it’s set a precedent that will be difficult – or impossible – to match. Could there have been a different, less stressful career path?

“I’m very grateful for that success,” says Blunt. “That album and those hits were the cornerstone of a career and three world tours. I’ve been very lucky.”

Blunt is not blind to the pro-blems that have resulted from that period.

“There’s a simple transition,” he says, “when a song goes from popular to overplayed. It is annoying. And as a solo artist, there’s nowhere to hide when that happens. People identify you with the song. I get that.”

As a consequence of his being seen by many as less than trendy, Blunt takes a lot of flak on Twitter. Happily, he responds with dry wit rather than aggression and he’s now garnering much positive buzz as an online “troll-basher”.

“I didn’t enjoy that whole scene before,” Blunt says.

“I don’t really have the ego to tell people about myself all the time. I’m actually quite a private person. And if people want to know what I had for breakfast, they’re just weird. But I’m getting better at it. I use Tweetdeck, so that allows me to do important stuff, like seing what’s going on on Al-Jazeera and checking out the occasional hot woman.

“When people mention my name, I see that as a great marketing opportunity. I’ve now found a slot taking the mickey, but in a good way. I try not to be mean. If a conversation gets out of hand, I start following the person; then they follow me and we have a proper conversation off the public platform.”

Blunt embraces his mockers to the point where he sells merchandise slagging himself off on his own website. Do his detractors appreciate the irony?

“That merchandise is not new,” Blunt smiles. “It’s there to suggest to people that I’m not just the sensitive, mopey guy in my two best-known songs [You’re Beautiful and Goodbye My Lover].”

For Moon Landing, Blunt’s chosen some heavy hitters as collaborators, including writer-producers Steve Mac and Dan Wilson. This suggests two things: he’s serious about sticking around and happy to be right in the middle of the mainstream.

“Steve Mac is used to working with some of the top pop acts in the world. That’s not me – I’m just a bloke with a guitar who wails a lot. But I have gone back to Tom Rothrock, who did Back To Bedlam as the main producer for this album. He’s an indie guy, but he’s also worked with people like Beck and Badly Drawn Boy.

“All of these people are just guys I enjoy working with – I have a good rapport with all of them. ”

Blunt enjoyed making Moon Landing. “I took the selfish approach,” he admits.

“I made this album for myself. The producers would say: ‘Hey, we can have a huge hit with this one,’ and I’d go: ‘I’m going to take this all and go to a tiny studio and do it all myself.’

“It worked well. Staying down to earth is so important.”