Blunt’s fifth album, The Afterlove (2017), was deemed a flop, but it did well enough worldwide to keep him on the road, at arena level, for 18 months. Audiences from Bangkok to Buenos Aires were seemingly unconcerned that the breathy singer-songwriter with the light emotive touch had slalomed off-piste to dabble with electronica and beats. Austriancharts.at – James Blunt – Who We Used to Be" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 8 November 2023. Top Albums (Week 44, 2023)". Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique . Retrieved 6 November 2023. My dad, he needs an O+ blood group kidney donor, and it’s a long wait, and life gets pretty shit in the meantime. And I suppose for me, the positive is that I have a chance to say the things I would never have otherwise said. To be able to say to him, ‘I’m not your son, you’re not my father/We’re just two grown men saying goodbye/No need to forgive, no need to forget/I know your mistakes, and you know mine.' I idolised this man throughout my childhood, but as we grew older, I realised that he had his own fallibilities, and that’s an awesome thing to see because you suddenly can become friends then. And then obviously as parents get older, the responsibility starts to weigh on the children that look after them. Although that can be painful, there’s something beautiful about it, too. We recorded this in the Guards Chapel, on Birdcage Walk [in London], where I'd been as a serving soldier, and the Trinity Boys Choir came and sang and they sounded amazing.”

The Girl That Never Was (Official video)". 12 October 2023 . Retrieved 31 October 2023– via YouTube. James Blunt drops latest single The Girl That Never Was". Retro Pop Magazine. 5 October 2023 . Retrieved 31 October 2023. If he was to dedicate the album to a single person, he says, it would be his father, who has stage-four chronic kidney disease and needs an O-positive kidney donor. I leave [my wife] behind for 18 months at a time, and the song talks about there being an ocean between us—in the physical sense whilst I’m away on tour, in America, or Asia, or Australia, or wherever. But the message is very warm. It says, ‘Without you, I’m just cold.’ There’s definitely risks in saying such things, but the point of music is to be moved by it.” Griffiths, George (30 October 2023). "Taylor Swift's 1989 (Taylor's Version) already has the biggest opening week of the year". Official Charts Company . Retrieved 31 October 2023.

Offiziellecharts.de – James Blunt – Who We Used to Be" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 3 November 2023.

On 2 August 2023, Blunt announced the release date for Who We Used to Be, his first studio album since 2019's Once Upon a Mind. [3] The album's second single, "All the Love That I Ever Needed" was released on 22 September 2023. [7]Zemler, Emily (2 August 2022). "James Blunt Welcomes the Highs and the Lows on Breezy Single 'Beside You' ". Rolling Stone . Retrieved 26 October 2023. Hallam, Katy (27 October 2023). "BBC The One Show viewers sobbing as James Blunt shares tragic reason for new song". Birmingham Mail . Retrieved 31 October 2023. James Blunt Announces Upcoming 'Once Upon a Mind' Album, Releases Single 'Cold' ". Billboard . Retrieved 29 September 2019. My dad, he needs an O+ blood group kidney donor, and it’s a long wait, and life gets pretty shit in the meantime. And I suppose for me, the positive is that I have a chance to say the things I would never have otherwise said. To be able to say to him, ‘I’m not your son, you’re not my father/We’re just two grown men saying goodbye/No need to forgive, no need to forget/I know your mistakes, and you know mine.' I idolized this man throughout my childhood, but as we grew older, I realized that he had his own fallibilities, and that’s an awesome thing to see because you suddenly can become friends then. And then obviously as parents get older, the responsibility starts to weigh on the children that look after them. Although that can be painful, there’s something beautiful about it, too. We recorded this in the Guards Chapel, on Birdcage Walk [in London], where I'd been as a serving soldier, and the Trinity Boys Choir came and sang and they sounded amazing.” a b c Hunter-Tilney, Ludovic (25 October 2023). "James Blunt's heartfelt clichés are easy on the ear in Who We Used to Be – album review". Financial Times . Retrieved 26 October 2023.