James Blunt has been "overthinking" his Carrie Fisher tribute song 'Dark Thought'.

The 'You're Beautiful' singer was a close friend of the late 'Star Wars' actress and explained that it has taken so long to pen the emotional track - which features on his new album 'Who We Used to Be' - as he wanted to do justice to his bond with her.

James told NME: "It must be about seven years since she died, I'm not entirely sure, but it's taken me all of that time to write a song for her. As a songwriter, the most honest song is normally the easiest to write because it just flows out of you.

"But I've been overthinking this song for so many years because she's just such an incredible human being."

Blunt stayed with Carrie - who played Princess Leia in 'Star Wars' and died aged 60 in 2016 - at her home in Los Angeles when he recorded his debut album 'Back to Bedlam' and wrote the tribute track about visiting the property following her passing.

The 49-year-old singer explained: "What I did with the song is I just described the moment I went back looking for her after her death. I went back to her house on a whim, drove up to her gate, and put my hand on it just to feel a little bit of her there. And I wrote the song about that moment."

He added: "Ironically, as I did that and shed a tear, an open-top van full of tourists pulled up outside the house. And the tour guide said: 'On your left, you'll see the late, great Carrie Fisher's house. And as you can see, some fans are still deeply moved by her passing.' And that was me."