LIFE

James Arthur serves up grit, emotion, rawness in ‘Blindside’

The British singer-songwriter’s new track features a killer, top-down driving chorus and powerful belting vocals

TDT

Singer-songwriter James Arthur serves up a superb offering in his new song "Blindside," which features a killer, top-down driving chorus and powerful belting vocals.

"Blindside" is a song I've wanted to write for years, about falling in love with the right person at the wrong time. It's an energetic song with a sad lyric and it really suited this new rawer style I was after," Arthur said.

The anthemic single also comes with a visual helmed by Tim Mattia.

Arthur recently received the BRIT Billion award, which celebrates surpassing one billion career UK streams. Presented to him live on BBC's The One Show, the award puts him in elite company, alongside recipients including ABBA, Anne-Marie, Coldplay, Ellie Goulding, George Ezra, Lewis Capaldi, Mariah Carey, Rita Ora, Sam Smith and Whitney Houston.

The Middlesbrough-born artist has scored four top 10 albums, with 2016's Back From The Edge hitting the Number 1 spot, and over his career has collaborated with the likes of Anne-Marie, Sigala, Rudimental, Marshmello and many more.

Arthur is one of the world's biggest streaming artists, with over 37 million monthly listeners on Spotify alone. "Say You Won't Let Go" became his breakthrough hit in the US. It was officially the UK's most streamed song in 2016 and has gone on to be enjoyed via four billion streams, while the song's official video has achieved 1.5 billion views on YouTube.

Earlier this year, the track became his first RIAA Diamond Single with 10 million certified units, making Arthur one of just 100 recipients of an RIAA Diamond Single certification in the program's history.