Olly Murs has a knack for reinventing himself. Listen to Heart Skips a Beat and you’ve got a sweetly naive lad. Listen to Troublemaker and you hear a hint of cheek. Put on You Don’t Know Love and Murs is suddenly scathing — all while still making you dance.
The 32-year-old Essexer is far from finished on that mission. Ahead of his first Abu Dhabi gig on April 28 at du Forum, he talked to tabloid! about releasing 24 Hrs — his most honest record yet — and whether album no. 6 is on the horizon.
You recently wrapped up a UK arena tour. What has been one of the most bizarre or memorable moments from that?
This last arena tour was my favourite that I have ever done. It was very relaxed and we all enjoyed it the most in all the years we’ve been playing together. I think the most memorable part of the tour was having all of my football team, family and friends come down to see the show in London.
What do you have planned for the show here in Abu Dhabi?
I’ll be bringing my big live band with me to play for everyone. I can guarantee I’ll get everyone dancing, so make sure you come down and have fun with me.
Never Been Better was more of a love album, and 24 Hrs was a break-up record. How different was your frame of mind when you went in to write and record 24 Hrs?
I don’t like referring to the record as break-up record to be honest, as there are plenty of upbeat songs on there, too — but as I write albums based on my own experiences, there was obviously a lot of lyrics about the fact I had just broken up with my girlfriend, as that’s when I started writing 24 Hrs. Over the several months that I wrote the album, I went through a range of emotions, so it’s got a bit of everything on the last album.
Is it easier to write/release one or the other — a happy album versus a heartbroken one?
I suppose it’s harder to release something that is really close to home, and reminds you of a sad or difficult time, as every time you perform those records the memories of how you felt come flooding back. This album has definitely been the most honest record I have released, so I hope people get to know me a bit more from it, and can connect with it on some level.
You Don’t Know Love was extremely danceable, regardless of subject matter. Did you always want it to be an upbeat pop tune? What came first — the lyrics or the melody?
Thank you! When I write every song, I don’t really think about whether it’s going to be a single or not, I just write whatever I’m thinking about at that moment. You Don’t Know Love was a passionate song with lots of angst and emotion in it, so we came up with a melody to reflect that. I’m glad I released it as my first single from this record though as it is sonically something different than I’ve done before.
You’ve collaborated with other singers on every album except for the latest one — was that a deliberate choice on your end, to not have any features on this one?
It wasn’t deliberate, no, but perhaps the fact the lyrics were so personal to me meant that they worked better on their own. However, we may have some features for singles further down the line, so watch this space.
On the note of other artists — you’ve been friends with Harry Styles for a while now and we saw you tweeted about Sign of the Times. What did you think of the song? Is it what you’ve come to expect from him?
I absolutely love the song — I’ve listened to it a few times now, and I think it’s a great record for him to come out with. I’m sure it will do amazingly well and look forward to hearing what else he will be releasing.
Reflecting back on the past seven years, how much would you say you’ve changed as a singer and songwriter since your self-titled record in 2010?
I think I’ve become more experienced generally, and that comes from years of practice. Singing five albums worth of material and doing lots of tours has definitely strengthened my voice, and I’ve become more confident as a songwriter. When I started in this industry, I had never written my own song, so it was completely new to me. I was very lucky to work alongside some incredible songwriters and producers that I learnt a lot from.
Of course you used to play football pretty seriously before you — as I understand it — had an injury. Do you think you could have ever followed that career path as you did music?
I first and foremost wanted to be a footballer as a kid and teenager, but did have a knee injury which meant it jeopardised any chance of taking it more seriously. That’s when I started going to the pub and picking up the karaoke machine. I didn’t take it seriously until people started actually coming back to see me and that’s when I thought it might be something I could do properly.
And finally, what’s next for you? We’ve never had to wait too long for a new album from Olly Murs — have you started work on album no. 6 at all?
I haven’t started on album six yet as I’ve been on the road on tour. But I love writing, so hopefully I will have time after the summer to get back in the studio and see what we come up with.
