Jennifer Nettles, ‘His Hands’ (Feat. Brandy Clark) – Story Behind the Song [Exclusive Premiere]

Jennifer Nettles is releasing the next single, 'His Hands,' from her 'That Girl' album. The songstress has already been crossing the country performing the poignant tune with singer-songwriter Brandy Clark.

"The inspiration behind 'His Hands' is twofold," Nettles explains. "The song itself was initially written as a duet. I wanted it to be a duet. I wanted to do a duet with two women but that wasn't trying to recycle 'Does He Love Me,' because that's a classic."

Instead, the 39-year-old bravely delved into a heavier topic, domestic violence, for the song.

"I wanted it to have a different subject matter, and I also wanted it to have something that could possibly help people at the same time," she adds. "So I had come up with this idea for a chorus of 'His Hands."

With lines like "His hands felt like thunder on my skin / His breath, hot, oh how could I forget / His eyes looked right through me and that was it / Silence was the only sound then / And my heart pounding," Nettles more than succeeded.

"I love the moment in the song during the performance when people realize that there's a twist," she notes. "Because when you hear the chorus after the first verse, you assume that it's about an intimate, passionate encounter. And then when you start to hear the second verse, you start to realize, 'Something else is going on here.' And by the time you hear the second chorus, you realize 'This is a completely different 'his hands on me,' than I originally thought. I love that moment of discovery whenever that happens in the audience."

Nettles says that adding Clark to the song was an easy decision.

"What I love about what Brandy brings to this song is that our voices are very different," she explains. "Her voice has a sweet vulnerability to it, that I think almost makes the character in the second verse that much more believable and authentic."

Nettles is spending much of the next few months on the road, including stops in New York, New Hampshire and Virginia this week. See all of her upcoming shows here.

Download 'His Hands' here.