Jamie T New Album: Singer Shares Advice Damon Albarn Gave Him

Jamie T had been out of the spotlight for so long that fans were genuinely worried about him.

According to The Guardian, someone started up a Facebook group in 2012 titled "Where Is Jamie T?" with the following requests:

"All we want is to hear 1) Is he OK? 2) Any more music coming? 3) What happened?"

Eventually, they were able to confirm: Yes, Jamie (surname: Treays) was still alive. In fact, he's been recording nonstop since he released his second album, Kings & Queens, in 2009.

But a lack of confidence and an old panic disorder that kept flaring up prevented him from having much contact with the outside world.

"I always knew what I wanted to say," he told The Guardian. "But I struggled at points to write anything I'd deem releasable."

As far as the press goes...

"I don't want to be someone who says, 'Oh, I don't do interviews.' I don't want to be that guy,'" he said. "But talking about myself is not something I enjoy."

Fans were understandably disappointed when Jamie dropped off the face of the earth. Both of his albums were Top 5 in the UK, and a handful of singles cracked the Top 25.

"I was exhausted," he said. "I've been doing this, music, since I was 15. And being a solo artist, it's all on you at the end of the day. I got to a point, maybe 23 or something, where I felt like I needed a break. I was waning. Wasn't sure what I was doing any more. I thought: f--- this, and cut it off."

But he's still been recording - more than 150 songs that sat on his hard drive until he decided to release 12 of them on his forthcoming album, Carry On The Grudge (due Sept. 29).

Jamie also took some advice from Blur frontman and Gorillaz creator Damon Albarn.

"He told me to write from the heart," Treays said. "To not give a f--- what anyone else thinks. He said that was the only way I was gonna get a record that was... I think he might have said 'As good as mine.'"

Now, Jamie T is back in the game.

"I've always been a musician, my whole life. Wasn't going to go any way else. I do wonder, sometimes, how healthy it is for me... if I should have chosen another occupation. But hey-ho."