''Olly Murs'' is the self-titled debut studio album by the English singer-songwriter

Olly Murs Oliver Stanley Murs (born 14 May 1984) is an English singer, songwriter, and television presenter. He was runner-up on the sixth series of ''The X Factor'' in 2009 and was subsequently signed to RCA Records and Sony Music in the United Kingdom, ...

. It was released on 23 November 2010 in the United Kingdom. The album's lead single, "

Please Don't Let Me Go "Please Don't Let Me Go" is a song by British singer Olly Murs. Written by Murs, Claude Kelly and Steve Robson, the song served as the lead single from the ''X Factor'' runner-up's eponymous debut album and it was his debut single. The song wa ...

", was released on 27 August 2010. The song debuted at number one on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. The second single from the album, "

Thinking of Me "Thinking of Me" is a song by British singer Olly Murs, taken from his debut studio album, ''Olly Murs''. It is written by Murs, Wayne Hector and Steve Robson, and was released as Murs's second single on 19 November 2010. Murs performed it live ...

", was released on 22 November 2010, and debuted at number four. The third single " Heart on My Sleeve" was released in March 2011 and peaked at number 20. The song was written by James Morrison and

John Shanks John Matthew Shanks (born December 18, 1964) is an American songwriter, record producer and guitarist. Early life and education John Matthew Shanks was born in New York City. Shanks moved to Los Angeles when he was 17 years old. He was in a ban ...

. The fourth and final release from the album, " Busy" was released in May 2011 and peaked at number 44. In October 2011, nearly a year after the album's release,

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

listeners voted ''Olly Murs'' as "Album of the Year" in the annual Radio 1 Teen Awards.

Background and production

The possibility of an album was first rumoured when Murs finished second place on the sixth series of ITV talent competition, ''

The X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...

''. In February 2010, it was announced that Murs had been signed to a 50/50-record deal between

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...

and

Syco Music Syco Music is a defunct division of Syco Entertainment founded by British entrepreneur and record executive Simon Cowell. Originally founded as S Records, the label launched while Cowell was still employed by BMG, the label oversaw music relea ...

. Murs has collaborated with

Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran (; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently r ...

Eg White Francis Anthony "Eg" White (born 22 November 1966) is a British musician, songwriter and producer. He started his career in the cowpunk band Yip Yip Coyote in the 1980s and then formed Brother Beyond with his brother, David White, in the late ...

, Roy Stride,

Trevor Horn Trevor Charles Horn (born 15 July 1949) is an English music producer, label and recording studio owner, musician and composer. He is best known for his production work in the 1980s, and for being one half of the new wave band The Buggles (wit ...

Wayne Hector Wayne Anthony Hector is a British songwriter who is best known for his work with pop artists such as Nicki Minaj, One Direction, the Wanted, Toše Proeski and Olly Murs. He co-wrote seven of Westlife's number one singles, including "World of O ...

, Matty Benbrook,

Phil Thornalley Philip Thornalley (born 5 January 1960) is an English songwriter-producer who has worked in the music industry since 1978. He is perhaps best known for co-writing (with Scott Cutler and Anne Preven) the song " Torn" (made famous by Natalie Imbr ...

Martin Brammer Martin Brammer (born 13 May 1957) is an English singer, songwriter, composer and record producer. He is best known as the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of the pop trio Kane Gang. Brammer later developed his songwriting abilities to pen many s ...

, Preston, Mark Taylor and

Chris Difford Christopher Henry Difford (born 4 November 1954) is an English singer, musician, songwriter and record producer. He is a founding member and songwriter of the rock group Squeeze. Musical career Born in Greenwich, London, Difford has written ly ...

on the album.

Professor Green Stephen Paul Manderson (born 27 November 1983), better known by his stage name Professor Green or simply Pro Green, is an English rapper, singer, songwriter, actor, television personality and mental health activist from London. Growing up on ...

was due to appear on the album, however, the duet fell through before recording was completed. "Heart on My Sleeve" is a cover of the song originally recorded by ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to Ap ...

'' finalist Michael Johns. Murs performed "

" live on ''The X Factor'' on 21 November 2010.

Critical reception

Ruth Harrison of Female First gives the most positive review of the album, saying "Olly has actually engaged his brain, put pen to paper and written tracks that are true to himself and his sound...this album proves that Olly is an artist in his own right". A review by Fraser McAlpine on the BBC Music website gave a heading of 'X Factor runner-up reveals a debut almost as good as his taste in hats.' Hermione Hoby from ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' gave a negative review of ''Olly Murs'', saying "the album chugs along with vacant cheer through a series of reggae-inflected songs that don't always make the most of Murs's soulful voice. Other than the slightly awkward stab at scat-singing on "Please Don't Let Me Go" ..there's not much here to grab the attention."

Commercial performance

The album entered the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

at number two on 5 December 2010, selling 108,000 copies in its first week. The album was kept off the top spot by the third week sales of

Take That Take That are an English pop group formed in Manchester in 1990. The group currently consists of Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen. The original line-up also featured Jason Orange and Robbie Williams. Barlow is the group's lead singe ...

's ''

Progress Progress is the movement towards a refined, improved, or otherwise desired state. In the context of progressivism, it refers to the proposition that advancements in technology, science, and social organization have resulted, and by extension wi ...

'' which sold over 174,000 copies. In the following three weeks the album sold upwards of 100,000 in each week, making it the fastest selling debut album of 2010 in the UK. On 8 April 2011, the album was certified two-times platinum by the

British Phonographic Industry British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is the British recorded music industry's Trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards, the Classic BRIT Awards, National Album Day, is home to the Mercury Prize, and co-owns the Official Charts Company with th ...

(BPI) for shipments of 600,000 copies in the UK. As of December 2014, the album had sold 815,971 copies in the UK. In Ireland, the album debuted at number eleven. It has since been certified gold by the

Irish Recorded Music Association The Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) is a non-profit association set up in 1999 to promote certain interests of the music industry in Ireland. It is particularly active in addressing copyright issues, and it compiles the official music ...

(IRMA) for shipments of 7,500 copies.

Track listing

Notes * signifies an additional record producer

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

Tour

On 21 November 2010 a UK tour was announced for 2011 to promote the album.

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Olly Murs (Album) 2010 debut albums Olly Murs albums Epic Records albums Albums produced by Steve Robson Albums produced by Mark Taylor (music producer) Albums produced by Steve Mac Albums produced by John Shanks Albums produced by Trevor Horn