Adrian Thrills Broken hearted Olly Murs keeps his chin up
OLLY MURS: 24 Hrs (Sony) Verdict: Cheery pop
Plenty of aspiring singers have received their first breakthrough on the X Factor, but few have matched the staying power of Olly Murs. Runner-up to Joe Mcelderry seven years ago, the blokeish charmer from Witham in essex has flourished as his peers have fallen by the wayside.
What’s more, he has become a major star without developing a signature sound or clear musical vision.
He’s an accomplished vocalist, but his ongoing success owes as much to his puppyish enthusiasm and infectious personality. His songs rely heavily on the artistic impulses of his producers and co-writers.
Since donning a pork pie hat and striking ‘nutty boy’ poses on his skatinged debut, he has sung pop ballads and taken detours into dance. He’s made some excellent singles, Heart Skips A Beat and Dance With Me tonight among them, but the onus has generally been on skilful pastiche rather than depth or originality.
It is largely business as usual on this bouncy fifth album. Olly, 32, has talked of 24 Hrs as a break-up record, its title reflecting the amount of time he says it took for his long-term relationship with model girlfriend Francesca thomas to fall apart last year.
He believes the songs are more mature and revealing than anything he has done before, but this feels like a heartache album without the sense of hurt that powered such classics of the genre as Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black and Adele’s 21.
RAtHeR, this is another feelgood collection from a pop craftsman with broad appeal, slickly helmed by an experienced backroom team that includes former Busted producer Steve Robson and American songwriter Claude Kelly.
‘It’s about me and not about you,’ declares Murs on you Don’t Know love, a disconcertingly cheery start to what is ostensibly a melancholy affair. On Back Around, he is too chipper to be convincing as he sings ‘these tears won’t dry’.
Olly’s natural optimism lends itself more readily to the ‘moving on’ songs.
By the time we reach Read My Mind, where ‘one drink turns into three’ during a night out, Murs has already recovered enough to be contemplating a casual fling, while the Ibiza-inspired Deeper finds him in clubland, his singing augmented by the impressive female tones of liverpudlian newcomer Chelcee Grimes.
As anyone who has witnessed the warmth, energy and crowdpleasing antics of his arena shows will know, his greatest strength is as a live performer, and 24 Hrs delivers a wealth of songs that should work well in that setting.
years & years, bolstered by keyboards, strings and the obligatory (at the moment) choir, already feels like the centrepiece of a live show, while the R&B-slanted Unpredictable should have fans on their feet when Olly begins an arena tour next year.
It is only as the album closes that we hear him expressing mixed emotions. the mid-tempo, electronic number Better than Me is tinged with regret, while the heartfelt Flaws is a ‘purposely bare’ piano ballad in which he finally owns up to his weaknesses: ‘On the surface I’m all smiles, but I’m only living half a life,’ he sings. this time, you actually believe him.
Making it as far as a fifth album, matching One Direction in the process, is quite an achievement for an X Factor graduate, and Murs deserves credit for transcending his roots on the tV talent show.
He springs few surprises here, but 24 Hrs suggests his time is far from up.
24 Hrs is out now. Olly Murs begins a UK tour at the SSE Hydro Arena, Glasgow, on March 3 (ticketmaster.co.uk).