Eric Church is involved in some questionable activity in his "Desperate Man" music video. Directed by Reid Long and John Peets, the four-minute video captures Church fighting for what’s right, and in this case, it's getting his music to the fans first.

The clip opens with Church serving as the getaway driver following a robbery. While his accomplices make out with bags full of cash, the next scene shows him storing the money away in a hidden and secure space in his home to use for his future scheme.

Get the Scoop on Eric Church's "Desperate Man"!

Later, he's in the studio stealing his masters to release the single on his own. With an appearance from "Desperate Man" co-writer Ray Wylie Hubbard, the singer keeps up the suspense as the video progresses.

The plot plays out like a mini-movie in which Church plays the hero, obtaining all his music before the record label decides to distribute it. In a typical crime-show move, the FBI shows up, but in Church's case his label (EMI) emerges in search for the masters. They're of course gone and pressed at that point — dropped off at the doors of his fans after a covert operation brings them on a plane for delivery.

“Excitement for new music from my favorite artists is a feeling I can remember from my formative years," Church says in a press release. "The unknown and the possibilities of the anticipation are one of the true joys of music. Well, even though how we discover songs from our favorite performers may have evolved, the feeling remains the same.”

"Desperate Man" is just a glimpse at how Church launched his last album, 2015's Mr. Misunderstood, to his fans first without anyone in the music industry realizing a new album was on the way. Always directing his news initially to his fans, Church announced his forthcoming eighth studio album in a message to his Church Choir last week.

“It’s been a while; I just want to say I have missed you. I have good news ... the album is done, and we are back," he told his fan club first. "It’s called Desperate Man and the first single is called ‘Desperate Man.’”

The Church Choir then had access to listen to the song first through their login on the singer's website. “Desperate Man” is the lead single off Church's new album, which will be released on Oct. 5.

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