The James Hunter Six Shares Music Video For “Gun Shy”

The James Hunter Six shares the music video for the band’s lovesick single “Gun Shy” from their new album Off The Fence, out now via Easy Eye Sound. Co-written with Hunter and his bandmate Myles Weeks, “Gun Shy” illustrates the tongue-tied feeling of a new crush over a dance-floor-ready groove before ripping into a bluesy sax solo from Michael Buckley. The music video was featured at Relix, who said “Along with the music video’s nature, the song carries a sense of timelessness that might well appeal to Hunter’s 40-year tenure as a high mark of British soul and rhythm & blues.”

James Hunter on the new single: “I had heard the phrase ‘gun shy’ before but didn’t know what it meant, although I assumed it had more than a literal application. When Myles Weeks, our bass player, mentioned he had a concept for a song with that title, he outlined the theme as being that of someone being nervously reluctant to declare their romantic intentions. I asked him if he minded if I wrote it, and he graciously said yes. As per my usual ‘Thesaurus method’ of song-writing, I threw a pile of ballistics-related terms on the table and set about arranging them into verses. Once I’d stuffed them into a spare tune I had lying around, we committed it to tape.”

“Then it was time to make the video,” he continues. “One dark December evening, my wife Jessie accompanied me to a studio in a Victorian-era warehouse in Tichborne Street, in the North Laines, Brighton. Our director, James Slater, filmed me prancing about and lip-syncing on a big sheet of paper unfurled from a roller suspended from the ceiling. I had a blast.”

Dubbed “The United Kingdom’s Greatest Soul Singer” by MOJO, the British singer, songwriter and GRAMMY-nominated James Hunter has been a legendary fixture in the scene for over three decades. His eleventh studio album delivers another dose of timeless rhythm & soul and marks 40 years since his recording debut. Featuring twelve self-penned gems, each song is delivered with Hunter’s customary blend of smooth vocal control coupled with heart-worn grit and wit.