Oh dear. 10 songs of very little consequence. And one which has sparked “controversy”. "I Hate You When You're Drunk" has generated more publicity for Mr Murs than his PR team has mustered for the launch campaign. But it simply doesn’t add up. The lyrics are so utterly at odds with the giddy, lightweight music, it’s as if an AI pop song generator has malfunctioned. Deemed misogynistic by the twiteratti, it’s hard to take offence at something so very lacking in malice.
TV’s mister nice guy is, according to the album’s press release, a “solid-gold pop star”. And the figures don’t lie. Under Olly’s belt are six multi-platinum albums, four number one UK albums, four number one UK singles, six million Spotify monthly listeners, 800 million Youtube views and 1.8 million tour tickets sold. He’s popular. He’s inoffensive. He’s a cheeky chappy.
So this relentlessly upbeat offering will surprise nobody. And probably thrill the “Murs army”. I’m afraid it’s a no for me and here are a few reasons why. it’s disposable fluff. It’s endlessly predictable (right down to the obligatory cheese-fest ballad – "Let Me Just Say" – which, without any discernible irony, includes the line “I wrote this song, I hope it’s OK”, and the pale Robbie Williams pastiche "Best Night of My Life"). How many “whoas” can one man cram into every song? "Go Ghost" sounds like it was written for a teen pop band, not someone knocking 40 (he worked on the album with BTS’s writers, so that figures). "Do Me Like That" rips off the bassline from Yes’s "Owner of Lonely Heart", which as you can imagine, doesn’t elevate matters. The autotuning on "Die of a Broken Heart" is as adventurous as it gets.
This extract from the aforementioned press release sums things up perfectly: “Also bringing the good-time party vibes is "Dancing on Cars", a tune with an exuberant "Pull Up To The Bumper" feel. And if you’re gonna tap into anyone’s funky vibe, Grace Jones is the one, right?” Oh dear.
