CD: Olly Murs – In Case You Didn't Know | reviews, news & interviews
CD: Olly Murs – In Case You Didn't Know
CD: Olly Murs – In Case You Didn't Know
Is The X Factor's cheeky pop alumnus approaching his sell-by date?

It is probably just wishful thinking from the haters that The X Factor is going into meltdown. Pop might be the sound of a bubble bursting, but the Class of Cowell is still having hits.
Proceedings kick off enjoyably with the Number One hit "Heart Skips a Beat", which is as nice a slice of summery pop reggae as you'll hear this side of early Lily Allen. Things soon slip into a repetitive groove. “Dance With me Tonight” resembles an out-take from the Grease soundtrack. "I've Tried Everything" is so doo-woppingly similar they must have been separated at birth. Yet the identikit format, which shuttles between modern dance and old-school floorfillers, works well. Murs has a strong pop-soul voice and at times he flexes it to alarmingly arousing effect on lines that are largely love-me-do bland.
There are even occasional surprises and moments that will catch the most committed alt-rock fan’s ear. I’m sure I spotted a dusted-off Scritti Politti rimshot sample and there is a chord progression echo of The Libertines' "Up the Bracket" on “I Don’t Love You Too”. Murs apparently has creative control over his work, so maybe he knows how to put a record together just as well as his mentors. I can’t see him having a profile as enduring as the aforementioned Will Young, never mind George Michael, but this is an ideal snog-under-the-mistletoe Christmas party album. It should keep his career firing on all cylinders until, ooh, at least January 2012.
Watch Olly Murs perform "Heart Skips a Beat"
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Olly Murs' album is amazing