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 about to embark on the ultimate passion project, and an industry first; ‘Originals’ will see 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’, will air on Sunday November 20th – followed by a further five releases every Sunday throughout the festive season, culminating on Christmas Day. Furthermore, he will play his inaugural live show at Under The Bridge in Chelsea on December 18th (tickets go on sale on Monday, November 14th).

George explains his creativity:
“This is an outburst of creativity, the whole project is. 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. It’s my little art project. Through school, college and uni I always had art projects on the go, I loved them. I was the first kid in my school who was allowed to do 2 Art GCSE’s at once, only because I would fly through the projects; I get so obsessed with them.”

This is a serious undertaking as a first solo project for any artist, but ‘Originals’ also breaks new musical ground, and highlights the young performer’s true musical ethos: not only has he written all the songs, he’s co-produced all the tracks, he’s directed and edited all the videos, and he’s even running his own social media campaign, having accrued a healthy following along the way. Could he be the hardest working young man in music right now? Quite possibly.

Here’s George’s breakdown of the songs, to give you an idea of what’s coming:
“After ‘360’, which is about me at my most vulnerable, I’ll release ‘Soldier’, a song about the importance of family, and how it’s always worth fighting for. From there, we have ‘Scars’, inspired from a DM on Twitter I received from a girl in need of help who was self-harming. It touched me, and although I didn’t know how to help directly, I picked up my guitar and this song kind of fell out of me. I hope she gets to hear it one day, and it helps her in one way or another. ‘Make It Better’ is the next song, with an adorable video about friendship; and ‘Poltergeist’ is about the energetic ‘noise’ that is left in a place after a relationship has ended. Finally, ‘Prove Me Wrong’ is my attempt to show the silly side of love, you know, when you’re being a bit of a goofball!”

Summing up the creative process, George speaks simply, yet poignantly:
“Creativity is fun, and should be about nothing else,” he declares. “Delete expectations, delete pressure; what will be, will be. Just create.”

George performs at Under The Bridge in Chelsea on December 18th

Here is the on sale link:
VIPs will be available from here also:
http://www.seetickets.com/event/george-shelley/under-the-bridge/1043901
(tickets go on sale on Monday, November 14th).

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