ARTHUR: I’M TOO BUSY TO BE BLUE AT CHRISTMAS

SINGER JAMES IS BACK AND HE’S BEARING GIFTS – 60 NEW SONGS

AMES ARTHUR normally feels sad at Christmas – but not t this year, as he has a p present up his sleeve for fans... 60 brand new tunes.

The Say You Won’t Let Go singer says past battles with mental health taught him how to turn the pandemic on its head and channel his creativity for a new music chapter.

‘I have finished the album. During lockdown I wrote about 60 songs. That’s all ready to go,’ the 32-year-old spilled to Guilty Pleasures.

‘I always feel a bit of sadness around Christmas and New Year.

‘I always feel like, “Have I done what I wanted to do? Am I in the right place?” I guess the pandemic has forced us to do that sooner than normal.

‘There’s been a lot of time to reflect. Christmas will be positive this year, nearing the end of this weird time.

‘I feel I have a lot of the tools to deal with it. A lot of people who deal with depression, anxiety and agoraphobia, they would have been quite happy... they don’t need an excuse to be social.’

He credits hiking ‘two or three hours a day’ for not being sunk by lockdown challenges. Of his new tracks, he admitted: ‘My last album confused people a bit.

Trying to do a conceptual album – made over the course of two years – songs on that didn’t really fit. It wasn’t coherent.

‘This album has a real sound. Sonically, you can tell it’s from the same batch of writing. It’s all written in my house, by me. It feels quite reflective, like someone doing a bit of soul searching.’

With the wind in his sails, James is already making new year resolutions, which include a career change.

‘I’ve ramped up the acting thing to at least try and get a role. I’ve been to a few castings, done a few lessons. I just want to get in the door and say I have done something whether it be a cameo or whatever. I want to learn the foundations... learn on the job,’ he said.

New year, new me: James also teased his acting ambition