"Sunday" is a song by English musical duo

Hurts Hurts are an English musical duo formed in Manchester in 2009, consisting of singer Theo Hutchcraft and multi-instrumentalist Adam Anderson. They have released five studio albums: ''Happiness'' (2010), ''Exile'' (2013), ''Surrender'' (2015), ' ...

. It was released on 27 February 2011 as the fourth single from their debut album, ''

Happiness Happiness, in the context of Mental health, mental or emotional states, is positive or Pleasure, pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. Other forms include life satisfaction, well-being, subjective well-being, flourishin ...

'' (2010). Despite the moderate chart success, the song received mixed response from critics, who complimented the sound of the song, but criticized the lyrics. Some of them called it flimsy and thought it was bland, and noted that the song has "lack of depth".

Critical reception

"Sunday" received generally mixed reviews from music critics. Alix Buscovic of

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described the song as a "power-dressed Europop floor-filler that channels early

Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in Basildon, Essex, in 1980. The band currently consists of Dave Gahan (lead vocals and co-songwriting) and Martin Gore (keyboards, guitar, co-lead vocals and main songwriting). Depeche ...

and the PSB", which was made with "theatricality" and "a brooding demeanour", but criticized the lyrics.

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reviewer Joe Copplestone compared the track to New Order, deeming it "gleefully era-authentic" and commending its commercial appeal. While commenting on the "lack of depth" of the lyrics in ''Happiness'', Sam Shepherd from

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praised Anderson's work, with the song's mix of "

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industrial pomp with

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disco pop" having a "surprisingly engaging effect." In the

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review, Andrzej Lukowski considers "Sunday" to cross into "boyband territory", having "a decent

hi-NRG Hi-NRG (pronounced "high energy") is a genre of uptempo disco or electronic dance music (EDM) that originated in the United States during the late 1970s and early 1980s. As a music genre, typified by fast tempo, staccato hi-hat rhythms (and the ...

synth line", nevertheless a "desperately gauche" feature. Similarly,

Alexis Petridis Alexis Petridis ( el, Αλέξης Πετρίδης; born 13 September 1971) is a British journalist, head rock and pop critic for the UK newspaper ''The Guardian'', as well as a regular contributor to the magazine '' GQ''. In addition to his mus ...

from ''

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'' felt it was "flimsy and commonplace", stating that, similar to the other albums tracks, it's a "climax" without any "build-up".

Music video

The music video was directed by

W.I.Z. Andrew John "W.I.Z." Whiston (born 4 January 1964) is an English director of films and music videos. Career W.I.Z. has directed a number of high-concept videos for major music artists from the United Kingdom and the United States, including Ma ...

, who also directed the duo's first video, "

Better Than Love "Better Than Love" is the debut single by British musical duo Hurts (duo), Hurts from their debut album, ''Happiness (Hurts album), Happiness''. It was released on 23 May 2010 in the United Kingdom, where it peaked at number 50 on the UK Single ...

" in 2010. It was filmed in Romania, at

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. Theo Hutchcraft stated that the video follows a similar theme to the group's others, adding "it's nice to go away to film the videos because you live in a different world for a few days ..We go to an exotic, beautiful place, think of a theme that no-one else will understand except us, and surround us with women so people won't ask us what it's about!"

Live performances

Hurts performed the single live at ''

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'', which was their first performance of the song on a television programme.

Track listings

*;CD single #"Sunday" #"

Live Like Horses "Live Like Horses" is a song written by English musician Elton John and Bernie Taupin, included on John's 1997 album '' The Big Picture''. The album version is sung as a solo by John and the single version, released in December 1996, features ...

" *;7" single #"Sunday" #"Sunday" (Seamus Haji Remix) *;Digital bundle #"Sunday" #"Sunday" (Seamus Haji Remix) #"Sunday" (Midland Remix) #"Sunday" (Tom Flynn Remix) #"Sunday" (Glam As You Radio Mix)

Charts

References

External links

* {{Hurts 2010s ballads 2010 songs 2011 singles Hurts songs RCA Records singles Songs about heartache Songs about loneliness Synth-pop ballads Songs written by Theo Hutchcraft