“I thought the title was a nice phrase and, musically, I was trying to get a bit of Northern Soul in there - which is where we’re trying to appeal to people’s feet. But, lyrically, it’s just a different way of reflecting on somebody saying that they want to play things safe,” explains James.
“The way I write is what I call the Thesaurus method. I take the salient words describing the subject of the song and try to find as many synonyms for them as I can and then look for stuff to rhyme them with. As annoying as it is to admit it, there’s a lot of work goes into the phrasing, and I make a lot of demos at home to get that side of it right.”
The James Hunter Six – alongside James, includes Myles Weeks (double bass), Rudy Albin Petschauer (drums), Andrew Kingslow (keyboards, percussion), Michael Buckley (baritone saxophone) and Drew Vanderwinckel (tenor saxophone).
On the most basic level, the album marks 40 years since the British soul singer made his recording debut with the release of his first album back in ’86. Equally significant is the appearance of one of his earliest supporters and collaborators, Van Morrison.
The pair were introduced back in the early ’90s and first collaborated on a brace of Van Morrison albums – 1994’s live set, A Night In San Francisco and ’95’s Days Like This. The following year Van Morrison returned the favor, guesting on James’s album Believe What I Say, running through a pair of Bobby Bland classics. Three decades on, the legendary 80-year-old Irish singer adds his voice to one of the most joyous tunes on Off The Fence – the jump blues of "Ain’t That A Trip."
The pair were introduced back in the early ’90s and first collaborated on a brace of Van Morrison albums – 1994’s live set, A Night In San Francisco and ’95’s Days Like This. The following year Van Morrison returned the favor, guesting on James’s album Believe What I Say, running through a pair of Bobby Bland classics. Three decades on, the legendary 80-year-old Irish singer adds his voice to one of the most joyous tunes on Off The Fence – the jump blues of "Ain’t That A Trip."
“I tried to get Van to sing one of my songs 30 years ago, but I hadn’t really written anything he fancied at the time,” recalls James. “But we were having a chin wag backstage at a gig where we were opening, and I asked him if he wanted to sing something on our next record and he said yes, so I sent him the track. Hearing him actually singing words I wrote gave me a real kick. It’s brilliant.”
Hunter’s own musical journey started 66 miles from London in Colchester, Essex, where he was born in 1962. His life-changing moment came at the age of nine when his grandmother handed him her Dansette record player and a collection of old 78s. Included in that pile of shellac was a copy of Jackie Wilson’s 1958 hook-filled hit, “Reet Petite” – a tune that musically helped transform R&B into soul. It proved equally as transformational as far as young James was concerned, providing him with a gateway to a whole new musical world that seemed a million miles away from 70s Winter of Discontent Essex.
Track listing:
Track listing:
1. Two Birds With One Stone
2. Let Me Out Of This Love
3. Gun Shy
4. Believe It When I See It
5. Here And Now
6. Off The Fence
7. Ain’t That A Trip (feat. Van Morrison)
8. One For Ripley
9. Trouble Comes Calling
10. Particular
11. A Sure Thing
12. Only A Fool
2. Let Me Out Of This Love
3. Gun Shy
4. Believe It When I See It
5. Here And Now
6. Off The Fence
7. Ain’t That A Trip (feat. Van Morrison)
8. One For Ripley
9. Trouble Comes Calling
10. Particular
11. A Sure Thing
12. Only A Fool
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