George Shelley: Originals

Former Union J band member, George Shelley, shot to superstardom in 2015 as runner-up on ITV's uber-popular reality show, I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here!, and has since secured a presenting position on The Capital Breakfast Show alongside Dave Berry and Lilah Parsons. Now, he is in the midst of his ultimate passion project, and an industry first; ‘Originals' sees the young singer-songwriter release six original songs, each with a unique music video, over the six weeks leading up to Christmas, in a bid to give something back to his loyal fanbase.

The first video, entitled 360 aired on Sunday November 20th, followed by Soldier on November 27th; and yesterday, the most poignant and emotive offering so far raised its head on his Twitter page: Scars, which was inspired from a DM on Twitter he received from a girl in need of help who was self-harming. It's a great little track, showing off not only Shelley's voice, but his smart songwriting.

The seven-minute video (see below) opens with a three-minute reflective monologue from the girl, reflecting on the darker times in her life, encouraging people to find their happy place. Shelley then takes over on his acoustic guitar, opening with the touching lyric, 'You fall to the floor again, won't stop you feeling / that no-one understands the pain you carry in your hands.' It's really good stuff, we have to say.

"Although I didn't know how to help her directly, I picked up my guitar, and this song kind of fell out of me," Shelley admits. "I hope she gets to hear it one day, and it helps her in one way or another."

A further two videos will be released over the coming two weeks, and Shelley will play his inaugural live show at Under The Bridge in Chelsea on December 18th.

Reflecting on the project as a whole, he says:

“This is an outburst of creativity. I spent a lot of the last few years holding back, so now this is all kind of like an explosion of expression showing the different parts of my mind. Creativity is fun, and should be about nothing else; delete expectations, delete pressure; what will be, will be. Just create.”

‘Originals’ also highlights this young performer's true musical ethos: not only has he written all the songs, he's co-produced all the tracks, directed and edited all the videos, and he's even running his own social media campaign, having accrued a healthy 750k+ following along the way.

Could he be the hardest working young man in music right now? Quite possibly.

Follow George on Twitter HERE