James Morrison "felt like a failure" after being dropped by his record label.
The ‘Broken Strings’ hitmaker is set to release his first album in four years, ‘You’re Stronger Than You Know’, in March, which comes after a break from the spotlight which saw him go through a testing time after his daughter Ada-Rose was born 13 weeks premature.
But as the album title suggests, he’s back and feeling "stronger" than ever before.
In an interview with The Sun newspaper, he said: "I feel really positive.
"I’ve made good music and I’m doing it for the right reasons."
James – who won the Brit Award for Best British Male in 2007 – has admitted that his new record is his chance to showcase his soulful voice and what he is about as his previous records were always more pop-driven.
He said: "It’s the album I always wanted to make but never could.
"There’s space on this record which allows for people to hear what I am trying to say. That’s what I feel is good about being a bit older."
The ‘You Give Me Something’ hitmaker – who also has a 10-year-old daughter Elsie with his wife Gill – felt like he was being "cast on the heap" after having so much success and then being "passed around" at his former label.
The 34-year-old star says on top of losing the backing of a major record deal, new artists of his elk, like James Bay and George Ezra, were signed by his management team, which "upset" him and made him feel like he needed to breakaway from the singer/songwriter style.
He said: "I felt like a failure. It was like being rejected and cast on to the heap.
"My A&R guy had changed about three times and I felt I was being passed around as if they were saying, ‘We don’t need you any more. We’ve used you for what we can use you for.’
"On top of that, my management company had signed George Ezra, James Bay and John Newman, so it made being dropped feel worse. It upset me a lot."
James’ new LP – which features the Joss Stone collaboration ‘My Love Goes On’ – is released on March 8.
James Morrison’ ‘felt like a failure’ after being dropped by label
