The Singles Jukebox

Today’s theme is Born to Runner-Up. First, a UK X-Factor silver-medallist…

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Scott Mildenhall: The “funky Drive soundtrack” angle is a perfect fit for Olly Murs, both as progression from “Troublemaker” and “Wrapped Up”, and with the fact that it makes him as much as two years behind the curve. Now he’s an X Factor co-host he is, more than ever, a light entertainment merchant who makes music on the side. He’s the Des O’Connor of the Swegway generation, and so it also suits that “Kiss Me” doesn’t sound like it took any more than five minutes to cook up. The minimalist aesthetic is quite un-Murs, but it works, bearing the refinement and focus that the lyrics call for, and a singalong chorus on top.
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Brad Shoup: Few pop things are as sad as a naff song bracketed by vinyl warmth. Murs has a bog-standard cadence that pushes toward nothing: the band’s got a groove and no flourishes; his chorus is studded with meaningless pauses. Its twinkle is all anticipation.
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Thomas Inskeep: Listening blind, I thought it was a decent Jason Derulo single, albeit a little damp, chorus better than its verses. 
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Alfred Soto: He’s always had R&B aspirations, and edging closer to the bubblepop electric of Jason Derulo requires no suspension. I don’t know if America will greet the perfunctory “Kiss Me” as the UK has Murs’s four other number ones.
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Katherine St Asaph: Murs remains little more than smarm poured into the void of his on-record personality; thankfully the Johnny Jewel-isms of the production keep this affable, not laughable.
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Jonathan Bogart: I guess this is the year that male singers I had previously written off as of zero interest surprise me with lovely ’80s-inflected pop. Olly isn’t yet touching Jason Derulo, but he’s edging up to the Weeknd.
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Patrick St. Michel: Geez, add Taio Cruz to your writing team and he’ll just bring out his leftovers. Well, it reminded me of The Weeknd song I don’t really like so… thanks?
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Mo Kim: So transparent in its family-friendly Weeknd aspirations that it may as well have been titled “Can’t Feel My Nasal Congestion.”
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Micha Cavaseno: Inoffensive and trite, Olly Murs has now personified this retro-boredom disco shtick that’s blown up this year fairly well by his own dimness and lack of personality. “Waistcoat Funk” is a good terminology for me to pin down here.
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