Becoming a big star, almost overnight, can often tempt young artists to quickly lapse into formula, and keep making the same album over and over.

But Brit popster James Blunt — who comes to the Michigan Theater on Wednesday — seems to have resisted that temptation.

His last album, “All The Lost Souls,” (2007) debuted at the No. 1 on the charts in 10 countries, selling almost five million copies worldwide, and yielded hits like “1973,” “Same Mistake” and “Carry You Home.” And this was after his ’05 debut, “Back to Bedlam,” turned him into a worldwide superstar on the strength of the ubiquitous, wistful, “You’re Beautiful.”

“All the Lost Souls” was similarly introspective, sensitive, and, in some places, almost as delicate.

But “Some Kind of Trouble,” Blunt’s current release, is a much more lively, upbeat, pop-rock affair.

“Having made two melancholy albums, I wouldn’t have enjoyed making another,” he told Music & Musicians magazine. “I wanted to take a different perspective on life, and take a different approach musically, as well. This time around I wrote on electric guitar. I wrote the earlier albums on an acoustic. Instead of being a troubadour, this time I wrote as if I were the frontman for a band.”

He feels that the new disc captures the mood of the early ‘80s. “There was a global atmosphere in the West that we could do anything — the same optimism we felt as teenagers,” said Blunt in an interview for his new Atlantic Records bio. The disc “really captures that same sense of freedom and excitement and naivete.”

The first album “was about perception,” he said. “But these new songs are not about fame and celebrity — they’re about reality. I’ve been hanging out with my friends, writing songs about the world we live in, and where we want to go.”

For example, “Stay the Night,” is a seductive good-time song about “singing ‘Billie Jean’ and mixing vodka and caffeine.” Meanwhile, “Stay the Night” is a bouncy come-on song, and “Turn Me On” is a slinky funk-rock workout.

“Stay the Night” also name-checks Bob Marley and his legendary song “Is this Love,” and was the first song that Blunt ever sat down and co-wrote with other writers, starting from scratch, in the same room.

That’s not to say that the entire record is an exhortation to party all night long. There are also some plaintive ballads, like “No Tears” and “Heart of Gold. And “These Are the Words” conveys some bittersweet, conflicted sentiments.

The disc was mostly recorded in London, and this time out, Blunt took a different approach to recording than on his last two discs. “Previously, I would write a song and we’d go and record it later. This time, it was very much come in with nothing,” he said in the Atlantic interview. “There was a sense of energy and excitement, to just have fun in the studio and make a noise. We did that and felt natural.”

The disc was produced by Steve Robson, who co-wrote the majority of the songs with Blunt. Other co-writers included The Bird & the Bee’s Greg Kurstin, Better Than Ezra’s Kevin Griffin, Wayne Hector and “All the Lost Souls” collaborator Eg White.

Blunt has an unusual background for a young pop star: Before starting his music career, he served as a British military officer stationed in Kosovo, where he witnessed firsthand the good work done by Doctors Without Borders, the international medical humanitarian organization. So he has since felt compelled to use his fame to help raise funds for the organization. He’s also involved with Friends of the Earth, a group that is devoted to increasing awareness of climate change.

Blunt has thus far resisted the day-to-day social-networking demands that seem to be de rigueur for celebrities in the digital age. “I have a Twitter account which my label and management want me to do, but I can’t engage with it in a way they want me to,” he said in the Atlantic interview. “They want me to say ‘I’m eating this for breakfast’ and ‘I’m upset about this in the world today.’ The world wants public figures to over-share, and I don’t feel comfortable doing it, so I kind of enjoy the way the songs try to speak for themselves.”

He’s also fairly grounded for someone who got so big, so young, in that he seems to have avoided the self-absorption that is so common in today’s young pop stars.

Indeed, it’s actually refreshing to hear a young popper acknowledge that the world does not revolve around him. “With so much attention, it’s easy for musicians to think too much of themselves and their position in the world,” he said. “We’re not worthy of that kind of self consideration.”

Kevin Ransom is a free-lance writer who covers music for AnnArbor.com He can be reached at KevinRansom10@aol.com.