Soul Seeker

English singer-songwriter James Morrison places a premium on authenticity

- Bruce Dennill

Your voice is such a major part of how people perceive you. As an instrument, how do you hone it, and care for it?

James Morrison: In a way, there were certain restrictions to begin with because of my accent. I’d sometimes need to mould the words I was singing to my voice. The push and pull is the same, though – often I still want to see how far I can push it. Equally, it’s good to just sing something through from start to finish without thinking about it. My voice is not a technical instrument, it’s a feel instrument.

In terms of looking after it, I’m cutting down on my smoking, I’m boxing a lot and eating better, and I drink this special Chinese snake oil when I’m on tour!

In your publicity material, it says that you have “a tendency to depression”, which is a very vulnerable, non-rock star thing to include in a biography. How important is that sort of authenticity to you?