TALK
With his sixth album, You Know I Know, Essex boy Olly Murs – star of The X Factor and The Voice – shows he has staying power.
Combining smashes from his nine-year career and a brand new set, assisted by pals including Ed Sheeran, Snoop Dogg and Chic disco legend Nile Rodgers, this latest offering is guaranteed to keep Olly in the public eye.
The only thing that isn’t such a hit for him seems to be his love life – single since he split Francesca Thomas in 2015. But does being such a public face not making dating difficult? “It throws a few curveballs out there, but you have to just roll with it,” says Olly, 34.
“It’s not always perfect, going on dates – going somewhere where it’s going to be a bit quieter.
“Because sometimes you do want to go to a restaurant that’s a bit more lively, got a bit of an atmosphere, there’s a bit of music. And obviously that can drum up a few problems.”
Competitive Olly face challenges head on. Which is why he remains optimistic in his search for love.
“I just try to live my life. If I like someone and I’m digging her, enjoying her company, I do whatever she wants me to do. And she just has to understand I can’t go to all the usual places she might go to. I’ve been dating a good two or three years now, trying to meet the one. And it will happen when I least expect it, that’s what I think. Until then I’ll do what I’m doing.”
Much of what he is doing is studying his craft, competitively staying ahead of the game.
“It’s just sort of driven into me to be a winner, to win games,” admits the football-loving star.
“I’m always learning. On The Voice with Jennifer and Will, they’ve got so much more experience than me. So I’m listening to them and understanding things a lot clearer.”
In the meantime, he’s still hoping to reunite with his twin Ben. They’ve been more or less estranged since Olly missed his wedding for The X Factor semifinal nine years ago.
Asked if he still hopes to make up, he says: “Of course. Hopefully, yeah, we’ll cross in the future, yeah.”
■ When Manchester’s towering underground legend Mark E Smith died earlier this year, it marked the passing of one of the most magnificently original careers in British rock ’n’ roll. A fiery, primitive and fierce intellect, The Fall man presided over an ever-changing line-up but a rigorously, riff-filled vision of euphoria and bleakness, black humour and incantatory exuberance. The track list here will miss many Fall freaks’ favourites, but all will thrill to era-spanning gems such as Lie Dream Of A Casino Soul.