A year-and-a-half ago, James Blunt [ tickets ] and his breakthrough single, "You're Beautiful," created a buzz at the Coachella festival in Southern California, where a crowd of thousands overflowed from the tent that hosted his early-afternoon performance. Though the hype wasn't quite as palpable when Blunt returned to Los Angeles to celebrate new release "All the Lost Souls" Tuesday night (9/25), in hindsight it should have been.

Performing in front of a sold-out crowd of 800 at the El Rey Theatre, Blunt embraced the venue's art-deco intimacy throughout a 75-minute performance that relied less on his familiar radio hits, and more on his prolific songwriting and diverse potential as an artist.

The singer/songwriter ventures into more pop-minded waters on "Lost Souls," and he fully submerged himself in those depths live, the backing of a four-piece band transforming some of his melancholic recordings into more upbeat performances, while taking an appreciated backseat on others. Such was the case on "You're Beautiful," which was performed early in set with Blunt on acoustic guitar and a piano accompaniment.

On the contrary, "Annie" was bolstered by the band, a jingling indie-rock sensibility empowering the song without distracting from the lyrics of fame never realized, a theme that was repeated in earnest on "One of the Brightest Stars," a song Blunt dedicated to his Los Angeles "home away from home." Even with the band beside him, the folk rock feel of the quaint lullaby to stars that have yet to rise was undeniable, especially in the venue's lurking shadows of old-time Hollywood.

At his folk rock best, Blunt doesn't fall far from the tree of Cat Stevens, as was evident in his poignant, coming-of-age missive "Same Mistake" and the stripped-down and yearning delivery of "I Really Want You," where his vocal scats were raw and naked, bolstered by their lack of polish. "Shine On" was better suited by its refined delivery, building from a poignant trickle into the flow of the full band, and offering a fitting segue into "I'll Take Everything," which followed a meandering musical path to its epic, organ-driven heights.

With a melodic rapture, "High" demonstrated Blunt at his genre-jumping extremes, his gripping falsetto floating atop an acoustic cloud as he soared to heights reminiscent of the Bee Gees at their non-disco peak, imperfect vocals swaying within a field of air-tight melodies. "Wisemen" bristled in its subtle whimsy, a piano and guitar-driven romp that offered the evening's musical counterpoint to the bare beauty and prolific nuances of "Goodbye My Lover," performed solo on a piano, but with as much power and emotion as anything backed by the full band.

A cover of Peter Bjorn and John's "Young Folks" made for a curious choice in opening the encore, albeit fitting amidst the lyrical tone of the 16-song set, which featured all but two of the tracks from "All the Lost Souls." One of only four North American shows planned to mark the release of the record (New York City hosted two shows last week at the Highland Ballroom, while one final date is scheduled for Oct. 1, in Toronto), the live set not only did its part to satisfy fans, but also offered Blunt an opportunity to stretch his musical wings.

Like John Mayer, who shook an albatross loose with his post-"Your Body is a Wonderland" success, James Blunt seems determined to prove that there is artistic life after the mainstream success of "You're Beautiful." In Los Angeles Tuesday night, he performed a set that transcended any single--and from an artistic standpoint, it doesn't get any more beautiful than that.

SETLIST:
"Breathe"
"Annie"
"You're Beautiful"
"Shine On"
"I'll Take Everything"
"One of the Brightest Stars"
"High"
"Give Me Some Love"
"I Really Want You"
"Wisemen"
"Goodbye My Lover"
"Out of My Mind"
"1973"

ENCORE:
"Young Folks"
"Same Mistake"
"So Long Jimmy"