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Bowness Community Hall

Two years ago, James Hunter released People Gonna Talk. At that moment, ’50s soul returned. The sound Hunter crafted with simplistic guitar licks, wide-eyed vocals and soft-spoken brass accompaniments was unlike anything recorded since half a century ago, when Sam Cooke and Bill Withers reigned supreme on the charts. It’s smooth, deep and intense music; soul at its core and arguably the best soul album of the year, possibly even the millennium thus far. It is that good.

Now, Hunter is back with The Hard Way, and is crossing North America with Los Lobos to road test the songs ahead of the album’s release in June on venerable soul and country imprint Rounder Records. Recorded last year in London, England, Hunter’s hometown, The Hard Way is a continuation of People Gonna Talk. The smooth, sensuous soul the man mastered on take one is expanded, but according to Hunter himself, it remains as simple as ever — soul as the greats intended.

“I called it The Hard Way after one of the tracks initially,” explains Hunter, “but on reflection, I might have called it that because of how it was recorded. We recorded on fewer tracks than before, separating only the vocals and guitars from the rest of the mix and keeping the sound raw, relatively speaking. This presented not so much of a challenge as an incentive to the band and I. When you have less scope for fixing and tinkering with songs, it is more stimulating and, in my opinion, you play better.”

The album has been mixed and is slowly moving its way through the production lines. In the meantime, Hunter remains tightlipped on its contents, preferring to discuss themes and general tendencies rather than the songs themselves. Love and its ups and downs dominate the songs, as in all soul music, but other ideas filter in and out, buttressed by soft trumpets, oboe and electric guitar. “The themes of the songs are the usual pop music fare,” Hunter explains. “Therefore, the usual is there — requited and unrequited love, money or lack thereof, but also, as a departure, one song called ‘’Til the End’ is about talking someone out of jumping off a cliff.”

“Some of the songs took on a different feel between writing and recording,” the soul man continues. “One example is a song called ‘Hand It Over.’ The finished track overcame the somewhat predatory sentiments of the lyric and became much more sexy and romantic, which I love. I tried to make the new album both more posh and rough. I have tried to write more sophisticated, advanced melodies and song structures than the last record, and we included more beautiful string arrangements and instruments like steel guitar and vibes. Still, I feel that I have gone for a more basic feel than before, so people will either be struck by our versatility on this one or think we've gone mad.”