Sam Hunt Has a ‘Gut Feeling’ About ‘Downtown’s Dead’

Sam Hunt just released “Downtown’s Dead,” the follow-up to his record-breaking “Body Like a Back Road.” The song, written by Hunt along with Josh Osborne, Shane McAnally, Zach Crowell and Charlie Handsome, is one of dozens that Hunt wrote for his upcoming next album.

“It checked all the boxes that I needed to check in a song, and I felt like it was lyrics that are lyrics I felt comfortable saying,” explains Hunt. “The idea I thought was relatable to people, and it just sounded like a song that people would come out to shows to sing and would inspire people to come out to shows.”

As he has with much of his life and career, the Georgia native chose to rely on his own instincts instead of a specific formula.

“It’s hard for me to really say for sure what made that song stand out,” says Hunt. “I could break it down, I guess theoretically, but I just have those moments where there’s just a gut feeling that says, ‘OK, this is the song you should put out. This is how you need to say it. This is what you need to say. This is how it should sound,’ and when I get to that point, then I put it out. That song was the one that sort of rose up from the batch that I’ve been working over the past year or two.”

He might have just released a new single, but Hunt hints that he might soon pursue other things besides making music.

“I don’t know where my career will go from here, but my sole focus hasn’t been on making music all the time like it was in my 20s,” Hunt tells Yahoo!. “I’m not writing as many songs. My interests have changed.”

The 33-year-old finds authenticity to be the most important part of making music for him, which is at least partly why he hasn’t been putting out music as fast as some of his peers.

“It’s hard to explain to folks who aren’t necessarily writing songs or in this business,” Hunt says. “When I’m singing a song as an artist, there’s only so much that I really want to say or have to say. I haven’t had a whole lot to say in the past year. So I’ve been writing songs that I don’t really feel are representing me, so I haven’t put out a record in the past year.”

Download “Downtown’s Dead” on iTunes.

Photo Credit: Instagram/samhuntmusic