The post-Busted careers of the trio that formed one of the early noughties biggest acts couldn’t have been much more different. After the runaway success that was the outfit’s first two albums (their self-titled debut in 2002 and A Present For Everyone the following year), the band parted ways at the peak of their powers in 2005 after Charlie Simpson quit the band to focus on his other outfit, the rock band Fightstar. That left Matt Willis to pursue a solo career, while James Bourne reemerged with the very Busted-like Son Of Dork. None of them achieved anything like the kind of success they had together, and in 2015 they reformed, recording two more albums together since.

It’s not surprising that, in a review of his own solo album, Bourne should be mentioned after both his former bandmates. In a band that traded on cliches, Simpson was branded as the ‘good looking one’ and Willis as the ‘crazy one’, while Bourne was always slightly sidelined as the ‘geeky one’. But there’s always been a bit of a quiet confidence to Bourne – after all, he was a founding member of one of the country’s biggest pop groups of the last thirty years, and in the years since Busted, as a songwriter, he has penned hits for the likes of Backstreet Boys, The Vamps, and 5 Seconds Of Summer.

Putting aside a shortlived phase as a solo electronic artist under the name Future Boy, Safe Journey Home marks Bourne’s first solo release. Lead single Everyone Is My Friend sets the agenda here, low-key acoustic pop that ditches the swagger of his pop-punk past for introspection. Unknown takes it to its extreme, as Bourne sings “Everyone wants to be famous / Everyone wants to be a star / Everyone wants all the glory / And everyone wants to go far / Everyone is writing a novel / But nobody knows how to spell / Nobody wants to be left out / Alone, and scared of being unknown”.

There are cheery moments too though – These Streets Know Me Well revolves around a repeating drum beat while Language absolutely sparkles – but Bourne seems at his most comfortable and most effective penning more maudlin affairs. Time Kills Us All, Somebody Else’s Problem, and Safe Journey Home – the final three tracks on the record – best encapsulate this. The first two are sparse affairs while the closing track aims for Semisonic’s Closing Time with its big chorus and contemplative lyrics (“Another missed opportunity to make a new friend / And I don’t know if I’ll ever see you again”).

Overall, Safe Journey Home marks quite the rebranding exercise for Bourne, but it’s a successful one that proves he’s not only a great singer-songwriter but a very capable solo artist too.

Safe Journey Home tracklist:

1. Everyone Is My Friend

2. Drive

3. Unknown

4. These Streets Know Me Well

5. Language

6. The Beatles

7. Batman’s House

8. Time Kills Us All

9. Somebody Else’s Problem

10. Safe Journey Home

Watch the official lyric video for Everyone Is My Friend here.

Author: Joe Sharratt

Joe Sharratt is a writer and journalist based in the UK covering music, literature, sport, and travel.