James Blunt: 'If you thought 2016 was bad, I'm releasing an album in 2017'

The musician's built up an excellent reputation when it comes to social media skills - meaning there was only one right way to announce his new album

Whatever you think of James Blunt's musical career, it is a truth universally acknowledged that the man is one of the true greats of Twitter.

Blunt recently took a break from concocting comebacks so perfect they deserve spontaneous applause to record some actual music, naturally taking to social media to announce his new album in the only way he possibly knew how.

"If you thought 2016 was bad - I'm releasing an album in 2017," he tweeted, with his website later confirming the news; also including a link to his last musical output 'Smoke Signals', the title track of an EP released in 2014.

The musician's last - and fourth - album was 2013's Moon Landing; with its release and promotion seeing Blunt accidentally e-mailing the entirety of the UK a link to the single 'Bonfire Heart'. Admittedly, the accident ended in Blunt's name trending on Twitter, so it wouldn't be much surprise if he was secretly contemplating pulling the stunt off on purpose this time around.

Blunt, of course, is best known for his deeply divisive 2005 single 'You're Beautiful', with the accompanying album ranking as one of the best-selling in the UK during the 2000s while simultaneously driving another portion of the population to the brink of insanity.

He first announced he was working on new material in February of this year, though there's yet to be any word on what his fifth album will be titled and when it will be released.