MORE BANG FOR BLUNT'S BUCKS

Back in the heady, high old days of rock journalism, my working week might have taken me to a beach in Barbados to hang out with the Allman Brothers Band. Instead, I'm more likely to take a trip to Willesden to be strip-searched in advance of hearing the latest Britney album.

Kudos, then, to James Blunt for pretending it's still 1975. He may sound tearful on record, but having sold a staggering 11 million copies of his debut album, Back to Bedlam, he's moved to Ibiza and is dipping heavily into his newfound fortune to launch the follow-up.

Instead of sitting at home worrying about his imminent visit to the High Court to defend himself against a claim over songwriting credits, last week he flew a handful of writers and record company types on a private jet out to his new pad, where we watched him play a short sunset concert on a hillside looking down to the sea. The assembled few were practically submerged in cocktails, and there was enough barbecued food on offer to keep everyone who bought Blunt's album worldwide from getting peckish for a week.

I am telling you this not out of boastfulness, but to emphasise that this kind of thing so rarely happens in today's music industry. The singing squaddie's second album, All the Lost Souls, is clearly intended to emulate its predecessor by becoming the biggest of the year after its release on 17 September (on Atlantic), and an extravagant launch is clearly designed to help early perceptions. But as one fellow traveller remarked: "This level of fuss makes you think the record must be a stinker, doesn't it?"

While admitting that a better situation could not have been contrived for cynics to find themselves enjoying the music of James Blunt, I'd have to say that the new songs didn't stink. That thin voice is still easy to dislike, and he lacks stage presence even on his own turf, but tracks such as Same Mistake and I Really Want You maintained a high standard of instantly memorable acoustic rock that will inevitably charm millions once again.

Most surprisingly, he's discovered dance music. His comeback single, 1973, due out in September, is still guitar-based but its lyrics concern the legendary Ibiza nightclub Pacha, while the standout track on the album, I'll Take Everything, features big house pianos and shuffling beats.

Indeed, living in the sunshine, counting his millions and accepting that even selling half as many copies of his extraordinarily successful debut will be a decent result, Blunt's biggest worry seems to be whether to carry on his party at Pacha or rival club Privilege.

"You know that bit in You're Beautiful, where you sing, 'My life is brilliant'," I gibber at him, "it really is, isn't it?"

"That's true," he replies, and heads towards a car full of friends and another very late night.

LETHAL BIZZLE'S NEW NAME FOR CAMERON

The feud between Lethal Bizzle and David Cameron is finally over, says the Walthamstow rapper but there's one vote the Tory leader definitely won't be getting come the next election.

Last summer Cameron said Radio 1, particularly Tim Westwood's Saturday night hip hop show, "encourages people to carry guns and knives". Bizzle, real name Maxwell Ansah, defended the station by writing to the politician, telling him: "You should be working with us instead of laying the blame on us." Instead of a meeting, the response was an article written by Cameron in the Mail on Sunday, headed "You're talking rubbish, Lethal Bizzle". The row was even discussed on Newsnight.

Since then the rapper has called Cameron both a "doughnut" and a "fruitcake" in print, and leaves the bakery behind with the line "Cameron's a f***in' arse" on his new song Babylon's Burning the Ghetto, from Monday's rowdy new album, Back to Bizz-nizz.

Now the 24-year-old is claiming an end to the matter, a happy one of sorts.

Cameron's speech this month about healing our " broken society" by "handing power to communities" pleased him.

"He's finally realised that people like me who've been there and have an influence can help the situation," the rapper tells me. "There's no point blaming us when a lot of kids in the UK respect and listen to us. Just pointing the finger wasn't doing him any favours at all. I was a criminal myself, stealing cars, selling dodgy things, getting up to the kind of mischief you get up to when you live on a council estate and you're bored. But people like myself and Dizzee Rascal, who've actually been through the bullshit and come out the other side, can be a big help."

Bizzle has worked with Love Music Hate Racism, and played a gig for Rock Against Racism at the Hackney Empire last night. He's also planning a schools tour, "to sit down with some kids and give them some inspiration", though he is sketchy on the details.

For this positive work, he almost thanks his old foe. "David Cameron made me realise that I've got a voice, which I didn't realise before. I want to try and use that now."

NEW ON THE NET

When Alan McGee gets involved in something, there's a fair chance it's going to be big. The man who signed Oasis has just signed up to present a television show on the web at www.rockworld.tv. Death Disco will bring a flavour of McGee's Notting Hill club night of the same name to the computer screen, featuring live sets from bands including Reverend and the Makers at 7pm and midnight tonight.

Those who find the Feeling's take on soft rock a bit too hard would be advised to check out Palladium, whose debut single Happy Hour is available in download stores on Monday. The nattily dressed quartet gladly compare themselves to Toto and Hall & Oates on MySpace (www.myspace.com/ palladiumofficial) and even employ a horrific synthesised pan pipe sound to ensure that no one rocks softer.

As with animal husbandry, bringing two hot bands together in a controlled environment can result in a superior breed of music. Leeds band the Cribs, slowly becoming known more for their ragged indie rock than for being mates with Kaiser Chiefs, have hooked up with scorching Brazilian electro popsters CSS to make a fantastically disco-friendly remix of the former's track Men's Needs. It's out as a B-side at the end of the month, but is being shared on the web now at http://download.wbr.com /cribs/cssremix.mp3.