James Arthur: “I can connect with people a lot easier now”

“You honestly don’t want to see this,” James Arthur says, referring to his own face as his mellow Middlesbrough tones wash over my laptop speakers on a grey Wednesday morning. Hearing his voice alone, I immediately feel relaxed. This man’s audio energy is beautiful (even when he’s not singing). It feels like a warm hug is emanating from my tinny speakers. 

He’s just arrived back from Australia. The singer-songwriter was supporting Bryan Adams on tour Down Under. Alongside the promotion of his own music, the experience opened his horizons in other ways: “It was just amazing to see a guy at 65 years old looking and sounding so good – a snapshot into the future of what is possible really.”

 The two musicians clearly hit it off on the road. Arthur talks of Adams fondly, noting it was nothing short of singing alongside “a true legend”. Their bond was evidenced by the ultimate musical clef: a gift from Adams. Arthur received one of Adams’ microphones (there are only three in existence). “It was a dream,” he says.  

And dreamery is a thing synonymous with his latest album, PISCES. It’s his sixth studio album following his X Factor win in 2012. Arthur is one of the pop stars who emerged from the latter end of the Simon Cowell pop machine, and continues his stratospheric success with nearly 32m listeners on Spotify and hundreds of sold-out stadium tours under his belt. He shot to fame for his ballad-style pop music which features “angsty, full chest singing and raspy vocals” but for this album he was “inspired to do something different; I wanted to make sure it was distinguishable from other stuff I’d done.”

The album has layered voices and ethereal, fluid melodies. “I’ve gone with a sort of falsetto, dreamy, stacked harmonies; it’s sort of how I was feeling.” He’d been listening to a lot of lo-fi music – the likes of Phoebe Bridgers and Bon Iver. Their influential sound alongside his true, uncontainable emotions rubbed together to create “a more lush, chilled sound” charting his “sensitive” ways and levelling up his vulnerability in music making.

I’ve gone with a sort of falsetto, dreamy, stacked harmonies; it’s sort of how I was feeling

The album is named after his own star sign. “The things that pertain to being a Pisces are being a dreamer, being a bit creative, and being sensitive. And also, someone who can shut down.” All things which Arthur regularly sees reflected in his own life. Despite naming the album after the zodiac sign, Arthur is quick to highlight he’s not a crazed tarot-reading, birth-charter assessing life constantly through an astrological lens: “I wouldn’t say I’m an expert or anything. I’m not collecting rocks and all that shit! I’ve just always really resonated with the characteristics of a Pisces and felt like part of that tribe.” 

Fans excitedly ask questions about when and where he was born, attempting to determine his rising sign, moon signs and paths through Jupiter. He has done a deep dive of his own chart and found it insightful although he admits the naming of the album was “pretty surface level” and more of an “umbrella” for enabling his creative flow of emotions. “There are so many cool ideas and images that come from it. Pisces is a water sign; water throws up a lot of cool stuff for songs.” (There’s even a track called ‘Water’ on the album.)

And flow the ideas did. Not only in the lyrics and melodies, but a fluidity in genres; cascading influences from R&B to lo-fi, and vintage rock all dip in and out across the album’s 12 tracks. It’s clear Arthur is keen to play with new sounds, and is comfortable showcasing the undulating emotions that go alongside them.

However, things have not always been so fluid and trickling with ease for Arthur. Music making does not come without its challenges, especially when catapulted into stardom rapidly after winning the nation’s most popular talent show. He’s candid about his experiences within Cowell’s multi-million-pound sausage factory. Something about his honesty in addressing his personal challenges makes me pause from probing too far: “I’ve had a lot of ups and downs… which have been well-documented,” he says. 

He is alluding to the angry outbursts and pleasure-seeking activity, often the all-too-regular and all-too-unkind discussion of the tabloids. “Clearly, I struggled in the early years,” he admits. I ask him how he feels looking back on The X Factor as the musician he is today: “How do I feel about it? It’s a big question, that.” He sighs. Pauses. Another sigh. On an exhale, he manages: “It was a lot of things.” 

He opens up to me, listing them earnestly: “It was a platform that allowed me to showcase what I was capable of as an artist,” he says. “It was quite traumatising as well… to be plucked from obscurity and for things to change so much so quickly.” The brief tour through his emotional archives concludes with some self-sanguineness: “Winning The X Factor has been a curse for a lot of people, not many have managed to achieve longevity. I like to think I’ve managed to do that. And I’m proud of it.” And so he should be.    

Shop the look: T-shirt by Dior; rings by Vitaly, The Great Frog and Arthur’s own; necklace: Arthur’s own.

About two and half years ago, Arthur received a diagnosis of ADHD. Prior to this, he suspected something akin to “generalised anxiety disorder”. His first single release from the album is titled with the condition. ‘ADHD’ is a commitment to addressing his experience head-on. Something of a petition for kindness; an awareness driver for listeners. The chorus lyrics, ‘the black heart that I wear on my sleeve’ depict his willingness to be vulnerable after years of what he describes as “feeling really quite disconnected from the world”. 

When I ask him about the diagnosis, he chats openly about the therapy-style terminology we all use freely without real interrogation. Arthur remembers prattling throwaway ‘I’m a bit ADHD’ comments without further thought. And though he didn’t look into it for almost a decade, once he started to listen to his intuition, investigate his symptoms, and get help, it’s been monumental. “Getting that diagnosis… well, it completely changed my life. I can connect with people a lot easier now because of it.”

Not only does he want to have “fuel for the music” and “share his story” but he hopes his art can act as a vessel for understanding and acceptance. “It’s sparked conversation within the fanbase which can only be a good thing. It’s positive. I’m really happy to see it.” 

He refers back to feeling part of the Piscean tribe he mentioned at the start. Regardless of star sign, mental health or cultural upbringing, he believes it’s in our nature to have a framework to better connect and understand one another: “As humans, we are quite tribal; we want to belong to something. Feeling we are not alone in something or are part of a community can be helpful for us.”

Yet nowadays community activity is something which is frequently housed online. Social media is something he “has a weird relationship with.” I ask him how he thinks he would go about launching a career if he was just starting out now. In the wake of TV-based talent scouting, many of the up-and-coming musical voices require that viral online moment to get themselves seen. “I’m glad I managed to get in before it was the only way.” 

Shop the look: Blazer by Balenciaga; T-shirt by Arket; hat by Amiri

Online discussion, comments, news feeds, and everyone having an opinion is something he describes as “a dangerous place for someone like me, as a sufferer of ADHD.” He has first-hand experience of online discourses damaging his psyche. “The noise of social media really penetrated me. I’ve been scolded by my presence on social media.” He talks about how hindsight and his diagnosis have helped him make peace with his emotional reactions. He also maps it back to his upbringing: “I grew up in a culture when people attacked you, you fought back.” 

He hints at how his previous online behaviour resulted in him being labelled by the media as an antagonist. “I’m still probably dealing with the repercussions now,” he confesses. Now, he employs a social media team to preserve his energy and protect his mental health. There are elements he always will opt to do himself, namely those spaces where he talks directly to fans because he never wants to give up that direct engagement but his team is there as a support, a buffer, and to help him get the balance right. 

Figuring out an equilibrium has been the theme of his life in recent years. “I was someone who had a bit of a tendency to get lost in life. I probably had an unhealthy relationship with the music industry and my job. I was looking for validation for a lot of things outside of myself.” Since becoming a father, a little over two years ago, he’s shifted his life outlook. “It’s very grounding to become a parent. It puts things in perspective.”

He illustrates, with his warm, friendly smile coming through the speakers, just how much joy his daughter has brought him. “My daughter is the best thing that’s ever happened to me.” He rattles off the intensity with surprising joy as he tells me the intricacies of his deprived sleep schedule alongside trying to fit in writing sessions and tour the world. 

He’s not only changed the way he feels about music, he’s changed the way he makes it, too. “I’ve tailored the studio to always be a place I enjoy. It’s only taken me six albums to get there,” he jokes. Making music and performing it are two very different beasts, though – and both come with their own pressures. “If you’re healthy on the road, then you’re going to enjoy it more, but that’s hard.”

Shop the look: Cardigan by All Saints; T-shirt by Saint Laurent; trousers by Entire Studios; hat by Amiri

He describes late nights, early starts, moving from place to place as well as the hardship of continually “delivering the standard of show you want.” It’s clear to me from our conversation that Arthur, despite his breezy Northern charm, is a masterfully talented man who is downplaying his ambition. He demands a lot of himself – that his work must always be improving. “I put a lot of pressure on myself to put on a show that people can enjoy and escape their lives for a couple of hours.” It’s admirable, honourable – yet he’s still jovial when talking about it. 

So with this new outlook, finding new sounds and new ways of living, how does he see his future playing out? It’s clear he’s downplaying that, too. He’s been inspired by Bryan Adams. Now he has a firm purpose to keep him going until he’s creaking away with a guitar in hand for the sake of his daughter and for his own enjoyment.

More immediately? He throws in the words “getting acknowledged.” There’s a peppering of “the Grammys” somewhere. But his real priority? Making honest music. “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to have big radio records at some stage.” 

He doesn’t want to become a hit machine but believes chart success is a barometer for making honest music which touches people’s lives in some way. Songs that connect to a global audience bring him a great deal of satisfaction: “I’ve been lucky enough to have a few songs soundtrack people’s lives and are used at special occasions. And I’d love to have more.”

He hates the word ‘hit’. It’s never something he goes into a studio to create, often seeking that out can stifle his writing process. Even when collaborating with others, he only wants to absorb lyrics or melodies he thinks he can sell from the heart. “I’m the gatekeeper,”  he says, and “I always want to make honest music; music that feels real to me.” 

Real he is. “Well, I make pop music, essentially!” he answers to one of my final questions, his tone suggesting he isn’t doing important work or saving lives. But with his brave messaging around mental health, his earnest vulnerability, and his approachable demeanour, James Arthur could be doing just that. 

PISCES is out now.