TORONTO - In one of his songs, James Blunt sings the line "where are you now." And while the tune isn't autobiographic, he might be asking himself the same question with regards to his second album.

The singer, who performed a sold-out show last night at the Phoenix Concert Theatre, recently released his sophomore effort All the Lost Souls. The roughly hour-long show featured a decent blend of the new material along with tracks from his smash debut Back to Bedlam, both of which were lapped up heartily by the demographic-spanning audience. Even Tie Domi was there.

The bearded and rather shaggy-looking British-born singer-songwriter opened the show with Breathe as a four-piece supporting cast fleshed out the Supertramp-like ditty. Strumming an acoustic guitar and from a distance resembling NBA all-star Steve Nash, Blunt paced the stage strumming his acoustic guitar.

"Well, how you doing Toronto!" Blunt said early on to much applause and screams. The genuine appreciation for his fans was mentioned throughout, but thankfully the musician kept primarily to his songs such as the mid-tempo roots-y track Annie and also with Shine On.

However the biggest and perhaps strangest part of the evening (at least inside the venue) was Blunt's decision to go with his uber hit You're Beautiful extremely early in the set. Most would leave it to at least close if not wait for the encore but Blunt was done with it about 15 minutes in.

Blunt's voice isn't the strongest in the world and his warble at times can be a bit grating, but fans still enjoyed it during I'll Take Everything which featured him on keyboard on the far side of the stage. The ensuing One of the Brightest Stars, which had a certain David Bowie circa Space Oddity aura to it, also seemed uneven at times.

With a number of females (and one brave male) shouting, "We love you James!" repeatedly, Blunt and company seemed to gel during the edgier Give Me Some Love as he deliberately paced the stage, looking like he was about to give a Queen Elizabeth-like wave at one point.

Nonetheless, things took a turn for the better with the tender and hushed piano ballad Goodbye My Lover which set a record for the number of "shhhhs" uttered, creating a vicious circle of more "shhhhs." The groove-oriented Wisemen with its Elton John feel also hit the mark.

Throughout it all though, Blunt's rather unassuming manner was what endeared him to some and left some in the minority wondering what all the fuss was about. But Blunt closed things out in style with the new single 1973, a disco-tinged number that had the musician on top of speakers and clapping. While the show finished with songs such as Same Mistake and So Long, Jimmy, the performance was half as long as the wait many fans had outside. Using a ticket pick-up system deterring scalpers, the line had some people waiting patiently for two hours for their turn at will call. A good idea yes, but its execution could have been improved.