Never Been Better

Never Been Better
Studio album by Olly Murs
Released	21 November 2014
Recorded	2014
Genre	Pop
Length	47:12
Label	Syco Epic
Producer	Jason Evigan Steve Robson Martin Johnson Peter Wallevik Daniel Davidsen Cutfather Ryan Tedder TMS Steve Mac Paul Weller Jamie Scott Matt Prime Future Cut
Olly Murs chronology
Right Place Right Time (2012) Never Been Better (2014)
Singles from Never Been Better
"Wrapped Up" Released: 16 November 2014 "Up" Released: 4 January 2015 "Seasons" Released: 27 March 2015[1]
Singles from Never Been Better: Special Edition
"Kiss Me" Released: 9 October 2015

Never Been Better is the fourth studio album by English recording artist Olly Murs. It was released through Epic Records on 21 November 2014 in Ireland and 24 November in the United Kingdom.^[2]

Never Been Better peaked at number one on the UK Albums Chart making it his third consecutive number one album on the chart. The album has been certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry. The album reached the top-ten in Ireland, the top-twenty in Switzerland, and top-forty positions in Australia, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany and Norway. Never Been Better received generally mixed reviews from music critics, some praising Murs' more serious tone, while others felt that the album was unspectacular and safe.

On 2 October 2015, Murs announced on his Twitter account that he would release a special edition of Never Been Better on 20 November 2015 and the first single would be called "Kiss Me". Like Right Place Right Time: Special Edition, this album will feature extra tracks and a tour DVD.

Background

In July 2013, Murs revealed that he had been back in the studio writing and recording new material for his fourth album, due to be released in Summer 2014. In February 2014, it was revealed that work had begun on his fourth studio album. He has been working with Wayne Hector, Claude Kelly, Steve Robson and Demi Lovato.^[3] On 28 September, Murs announced that the title of the album will be called Never Been Better and also announced the tracklist alongside it. The album was released on 24 November 2014.

Singles

"Wrapped Up" was released as the lead single from the album on 16 November 2014. The song peaked at #3 on the UK Singles Chart, which earned Murs another top five single.

"Up", which features vocals from Demi Lovato was released as the second single from the album on 4 January 2015. The single peaked at #4 on the UK Singles Chart and has since gone Platinum in the United Kingdom.

"Seasons" was released as the third single on 27 March 2015. The single made it to the top 40 of the UK Singles Chart.

"Kiss Me" was released as the first single from the reissued special edition of the album on 9 October 2015.^[4]

Promotional singles

"Beautiful to Me" was released as promotional single on 28 May 2015.^[5] The song peaked at number 93.^[6]

"Stevie Knows" was released as the second promotional single on 11 December 2015 from the album reissued special edition.^[7]

Critical reception

Reviews for Never Been Better were mixed. Writing for 4music.com, Jessica Lever gave the album a 4/5 score,^[8] while writing for The Telegraph, in a 2 out of 5 stars review, Neil McCormick wrote: "Unexpected collaborations only expose how ordinary the X Factor runner-up is."^[9] Dave Simpson of The Guardian was more charitable, and in a 3 of 5 stars review suggested "the acoustic ballad Let Me In (co-written with Paul Weller) is, by some distance, the best thing here."^[10] Less complimentary overall was Shaun Connors in Trucking's regular music reviews, writing (in a 1 of 5 stars review), "Yet another album by yet another X-Factor also-ran... And one that came second to the most forgettable winner of all... I realise it's risking social ostracisation by anybody under 13 for expressing these views, but this is without doubt the most uninspired, tedious collective of pop pap I've heard all year".^[11]

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[12]
Digital Spy	[13]
The Telegraph	[14]
The Guardian	[15]

Commercial performance

Never Been Better debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, selling 92,597 copies in its first week.^[16] It is Murs's third number one album after In Case You Didn't Know in 2011 and Right Place Right Time in 2012. As of March 2015, the album sold 886,000 copies.

Track listing

Never Been Better — Standard version[17]
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Did You Miss Me?"	Olly Murs Jason Evigan Sean Douglas	Evigan Dan Book^[a]^[b]	3:16
2.	"Wrapped Up" (featuring Travie McCoy)	Murs Travie McCoy Steve Robson Claude Kelly	Robson	3:05
3.	"Beautiful to Me"	Murs Martin Johnson Robson Sam Hollander	Johnson Kyle Moorman^[a] Brandon Paddock^[a]	4:05
4.	"Up" (featuring Demi Lovato)	Wayne Hector Daniel Davidsen Maegan Cottone Peter Wallevik Mich Hansen	Davidsen Wallevik Cutfather David Quiñones^[c] TommyD^[c]	3:44
5.	"Seasons"	Ryan Tedder Ammar Malik Noel Zancanella	Tedder Zancanella	3:37
6.	"Nothing Without You"	Murs Tom Barnes Pete Kelleher Ben Kohn Iain James Mike Posner	TMS	3:34
7.	"Never Been Better"	Murs Barnes Kelleher Kohn Hector	TMS	4:16
8.	"Hope You Got What You Came For"	Murs Robson Hector	Robson	3:25
9.	"Why Do I Love You"	Murs Barnes Kelleher Kohn Jamie Scott	TMS	3:42
10.	"Stick with Me"	Steve Mac Hector John Newman	Mac	3:37
11.	"Can't Say No"	Murs Robson Kelly	Robson Future Cut^[a]	3:10
12.	"Tomorrow"	Murs Robson Hector	Robson	3:38
13.	"Let Me In"	Murs Paul Weller	Weller	4:03
Total length:				47:12

Never Been Better — Deluxe version[18]
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
14.	"We Still Love"	Murs Robson Sam Romans	Robson	3:15
15.	"Us Against the World"	Murs Scott Toby Smith	Scott Smith Matt Rad	3:27
16.	"Ready for Love"	Murs Scott Matt Prime Phil Cook	Prime	3:26
17.	"History"	Murs Robson Kelly	Robson	2:50
Total length:				60:10

Never Been Better — Mediamarkt bonus tracks[19]
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
18.	"Alone Tonight"	Murs Iyiola Babalola Darren Lewis Hector		3:28
19.	"Wrapped Up" (featuring Travie McCoy) (Westfunk Radio Mix)	Murs McCoy Robson Kelly	Robson	3:14
Total length:				66:52

Never Been Better — Japan bonus tracks[20]
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
18.	"Alone Tonight"	Murs Iyiola Babalola Darren Lewis Hector
19.	"Wrapped Up" (featuring Travie McCoy) (Westfunk Radio Mix)	Murs McCoy Robson Kelly	Robson	3:37
20.	"Wrapped Up" (featuring Travie McCoy) (Cahill Radio Mix)	Murs McCoy Robson Kelly	Robson	3:14
21.	"Look at the Sky"	Hachidai Nakamura	Robson	3:27

Never Been Better — U.S. Standard version[21]
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Did You Miss Me?"	3:16
2.	"Wrapped Up" (featuring Travie McCoy)	3:05
3.	"Beautiful to Me"	4:05
4.	"Up" (featuring Demi Lovato)	3:44
5.	"Seasons"	3:37
6.	"Nothing Without You"	3:34
7.	"Never Been Better"	4:16
8.	"Hope You Got What You Came For"	3:25
9.	"Stick With Me"	3:37
10.	"Tomorrow"	3:38
11.	"Let Me In"	4:03
Total length:		40:20

Never Been Better — U.S. Deluxe version[22]
No.	Title	Length
12.	"Why Do I Love You"	3:42
13.	"Ready for Love"	3:26
14.	"History"	2:50
Total length:		50:18

Special edition

Never Been Better: Special Edition – bonus tracks[23]
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
14.	"Kiss Me"	Murs Zacharie Raymond Yannick Rastogi Robson Gary Derussy Lindy Robbins Taio Cruz	Banx & Ranx Robson^[b]	3:18
15.	"Stevie Knows"	Alexander Izquierdo Ian Kirkpatrick Sam Martin	Kirkpatrick	3:11
16.	"If I Stay"	Murs Johnson Sam Hollander	Johnson	3:49
17.	"Sacrifice"	Murs Robson Kelly	Robson	2:45
18.	"Love Shouldn't Be This Hard"	Murs Toby Gad	Gad	3:40
19.	"Up" (featuring Ella Eyre) (Live Lounge)	Hector Davidsen Cottone Wallevik Hansen		3:44
20.	"Last Christmas" (Live Lounge)	George Michael		3:56
Total length:				71:35

Never Been Better: Special Edition – Never Been Better Tour DVD
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Intro"
2.	"Did You Miss Me?"
3.	"Right Place Right Time"
4.	"Why Do I Love You"
5.	"Hey You Beautiful"
6.	"Hand on Heart"
7.	"Never Been Better"
8.	"Seasons"
9.	"Thinking of Me"/"Busy"/"Please Don't Let Me Go" (Piano section)
10.	"Hope You Got What You Came For"
11.	"Heart Skips a Beat"
12.	"Up" (featuring Ella Eyre)
13.	"Dance with Me Tonight"
14.	"Let Me In"
15.	"Dear Darlin'"
16.	"Beautiful to Me"
17.	"Troublemaker" (featuring Robbie WillIiams)
18.	"Nothing Without You"
19.	"Wrapped Up"/"Treasure"
20.	"Wrapped Up" (Instrumental)

Notes

• ^{^[a]} signifies an additional producer
• ^{^[b]} signifies a vocal producer
• ^{^[c]} signifies Demi Lovato vocal producer
• ^{^[d]} signifies strings producer

Unwrapped EP

Unwrapped is a free live EP exclusive to Google Play. It was released on 12 December 2014.^[24]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Wrapped Up" (Live)	Murs Robson Kelly McCoy	Robson	2:00
2.	"History" (Live)	Murs Robson Kelly	Robson	2:20
3.	"Dear Darlin'" (Live)	Murs Ed Drewett Jim Eliot	Drewett Eliot	2:39
4.	"Troublemaker" (Live)	Murs Robson Kelly Tramar Dillard	Robson	3:00
5.	"I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday" (Live)	Roy Wood	Wood	3:20
Total length:				13:19

Personnel

Credits for the album adapted from AllMusic.^[25]

• Vern Asbury - Bass
• John August - Assistant Engineer, Vocals (Background)
• Simon Baggs - Violin
• Tom Barnes - Composer, Drums, Vocals (Background)
• Paulette Bayley - Violin
• Mark Berrow - Violin
• Chris Bishop - Vocal Engineer
• Duck Blackwell - Drum Programming
• Rachel Bolt - Viola
• Natalia Bonner - Violin
• Dan Book - Vocal Producer
• John Bradbury - Violin
• Sarah Brandwood-Spencer - Violin
• Karl Brazil - Drums
• Chris Briggs - A&R
• Ian Burdge - Celli
• Gillon Cameron - Violin
• Paul Cassidy - Viola
• Emil Chakalov - Violin
• Simon Clarke - Brass Arrangement, Sax (Alto), Sax (Baritone)
• Ben Collier - Programming, String Programming
• Maegan Cottone - Composer, Vocals (Background)
• Tom Coyne - Mastering
• Cutfather - Producer
• Rosie Danvers - Cello, String Arrangements
• Daniel Davidsen - Bass, Composer, Drum Programming, Guitar, Instrumentation, Producer, Programming
• Alison Dods - Violin
• Sean Douglas - Composer
• Ian Dowling - Engineer
• Jason Elliott - Vocal Engineer
• Jason Evigan - Composer, Engineer, Horn Arrangements, Instrumentation, Producer, Programming, Vocal Producer
• Fresh - Beat Box
• Futurecut - Additional Production
• Simon Gardner - Brass, Trumpet
• Paul Gendler - Guitar
• Serban Ghenea - Mixing
• Susie Gillis - String Contractor
• Isobel Griffiths - String Contractor
• John Hanes - Mixing
• Mich Hansen - Composer, Percussion
• Peter Hanson - Violin
• Jacqueline Hartley - Violin
• Wayne Hector - Composer, Vocals (Background)
• John Heley - Celli
• Richard Henry - Trombone (Bass)
• George Hogg - Trumpet
• Sam Hollander - Composer
• Kiris Houston - Bass, Guitar, Organ, Piano
• Sally Jackson - Violin
• Bryony James - Cello
• Iain James - Composer, Vocals (Background)
• Martin Johnson - Composer, Engineer, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Instrumentation, Percussion, Piano, Producer, Programming, Vocals (Background)
• Magnus Johnston - Violin
• Beverley Jones - Double Bass
• Joe Kearns - Engineer, Vocal Engineer
• Paul Kegg - Celli
• Pete Kelleher - Composer, Keyboards
• Claude Kelly - Composer, Vocals (Background)
• The Kick Horns - Brass
• Patrick Kiernan - Strings, Violin
• Ben Kohn - Composer, Guitar, Percussion, Vocals (Background)
• Boguslaw Kostecki - Violin
• Jan "Stan" Kybert - Engineer
• Peter Lale - Viola
• Oliver Langford - Violin
• Chris Laws - Drums, Engineer, Mixing
• Julian Leaper - Violin
• Fiona Legget - Viola
• Anthony Lewis - Celli
• Vicki Lewis - String Contractor
• David Liddell - Trombone
• Ryan Lipman - Mixing Assistant
• Demi Lovato - Featured Artist
• Martin Loveday - Celli
• Jacob Luttrell - Vocals (Background)
• Steve Mac - Brass Arrangement, Composer, Keyboards, Producer, String Arrangements
• Ammar Malik - Composer
• Wil Malone - String Arrangements, String Conductor
• Travie McCoy - Composer, Featured Artist
• Jim McLeod - Violin
• Sam Miller - Engineer
• Perry Montague-Mason - Leader, Strings, Violin
• Kyle Moorman - Additional Production, Engineer, Programming
• Steve Morris - Violin
• Olly Murs - Composer, Primary Artist
• Everton Nelson - Violin
• John Newman - Composer, Vocals (Background)
• Serge Nudel - Engineer
• Emma Owens - Viola
• Brandon Paddock - Additional Production, Bass, Engineer, Programming, Vocals (Background)
• Kerenza Peacock - Violin
• Daniel Pierce - Vocals (Background)
• Mike Posner - Composer, Piano
• Luke Potashnick - Guitar
• Dann Pursey - Engineer, Mixing Assistant, Percussion
• David "DQ" Quinones - Vocal Producer
• Charles Rees - Engineer
• Jonathan Rees - Violin
• Tom Rees-Roberts - Brass
• Alex Reeve - Guitar
• Rich Rich III - Assistant Engineer, Vocal Editing
• Pierre-Luc Rioux - Guitar
• Steve Robson - Composer, Instrumentation, Mixing, Producer, String Arrangements
• Jenny Sacha - Violin
• Tim Sanders - Brass Arrangement, Sax (Tenor)
• Frank Schaefer - Celli
• Jamie Scott - Composer, Piano
• Mary Scully - Bass, Double Bass
• Nick Seeley - Horn Arrangements, Strings
• Jackie Shave - Violin
• Emlyn Singleton - Violin
• Chris Stereo:Type - Vocal Engineer
• Nick Taylor - Engineer
• Ryan Tedder - Composer, Instrumentation, Producer, Programming, Vocal Engineer, Vocals (Background)
• Issaiah Tejada - Assistant Engineer
• TMS - Producer
• Christopher Tombling - Violin
• Tommy D. - Producer
• Matthew Tryba - Assistant Engineer
• Nick Trygstad - Cello
• Yu Tsai - Photography
• Simon Turner - Cello
• David Venni - Photography
• Peter Wallevik - Composer, Drum Programming, Instrumentation, Keyboards, Piano, Producer, Programming, Vocals (Background)
• Allen Walley - Bass, Double Bass
• Leah Weller - Vocals (Background)
• Paul Weller - Composer, Guitar, Piano, Producer, Vocals (Background)
• Jeremy Wheatley - Mixing
• Bruce White - Viola
• Pete Whitfield - Transcription, Violin
• Deborah Widdup - Violin
• Josh Wilkinson - Programming
• The Wired Strings - Strings
• David Woodcock - Violin
• Chris Worsey - Celli
• Steve Wright - Viola
• Noel Zancanella - Composer, Instrumentation, Producer, Programming
• Joe Zook - Mixing

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts Chart (2014) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[26] 27 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[27] 40 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[28] 157 Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[29] 38 Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[30] 28 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[31] 38 Irish Albums (IRMA)[32] 7 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[33] 31 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[34] 50 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[35] 20 UK Albums (OCC)[36] 1 scope="row" US Billboard 200[37] 42

Year-end charts Chart (2014) Position UK Albums (OCC)[38] 8 Chart (2015) Position UK Albums (OCC)[39] 13 Certifications Region Certification Sales/shipments United Kingdom (BPI)[40] 2× Platinum 764,000 ^^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

1. "iTunes – Music – Seasons (Remixes) by Olly Murs". Retrieved 28 April 2015.
2. "Olly Murs Announces New Album 'Never Been Better' AND A New Song!". Capital FM. 30 September 2014.
3. "Exclusive blog from the studio! – The latest news from Olly Murs". Sony Music Email.
4. "iTunes - Music - Kiss Me - Single by Olly Murs". iTunes Store (GB).
5. "Beautiful to Me (Remixes) - Single by Olly Murs". iTunes Store (GB).
6. Moss, Liv (5 May 2015). "Olly Murs announces new single Beautiful To Me". officialcharts.com. The Official Charts Company. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
7. "iTunes - Music - Stevie Knows - Single by Olly Murs". iTunes Store (GB).
8. Lever, Jessica (20 November 2014). "Olly Murs: Never Been Better - album review". 4Music. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
9. McCormick, Neil (24 November 2014). "Olly Murs: Never Been Better - album review". The Telegraph. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
10. Simpson, Dave (20 November 2014). "Olly Murs: Never Been Better - album review". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
11. Connors, Shaun (June 2015). "Review: Olly Murs – Never Been Better". Trucking (Cudham, England: Kelsey Publishing Group): 43.
12. Collar, Matt. "Never Been Better - Olly Murs: Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
13. Davidson, Amy (22 November 2014). "Olly Murs: Never Been Better - album review". Digital Spy. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
14. McCormick, Neil (24 November 2014). "Olly Murs, Never Been Better, review: 'old-fashioned tunefulness'". The Telegraph. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
15. Simpson, Dave (20 November 2014). "Olly Murs: Never Been Better review - fleeting moments of raw humanity". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
16. Jones, Alan (1 December 2014). "Official Charts analysis: Olly Murs becomes second X Factor graduate to score three No.1s". Music Week. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
17. "iTunes (U.K.) - Music - Olly Murs - Never Been Better". iTunes (U.K.). 21 November 2014. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
18. "iTunes (U.K.) - Music - Olly Murs - Never Been Better (Deluxe Edition)". iTunes (U.K.). 21 November 2014. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
19. "Mediamrkt - Music - Olly Murs - Never Been Better (Special Edition)". Mediamarkt. 21 November 2014. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
20. "iTunes (JP) - Music - Olly Murs - Never Been Better (Japan Version)". iTunes (JP). 14 January 2015. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
21. "iTunes (U.S.) - Music - Olly Murs - Never Been Better". iTunes (U.S.). 10 March 2015. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
22. "Music - Olly Murs - Never Been Better (Deluxe)". iTunes (U.S.). 10 March 2015. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
23. "Never Been Better Special Edition by Olly Murs: Amazon.co.uk: Music". Amazon UK.
24. "Olly Murs: Unwrapped – EP – Music on Google Play". Google Play.
25. "Never Been Better - Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
26. "Australiancharts.com – Olly Murs – Never Been Better". Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
27. "Austriancharts.at – Olly Murs – Never Been Better" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
28. "Ultratop.be – Olly Murs – Never Been Better" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
29. "Danishcharts.com – Olly Murs – Never Been Better". Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
30. "Olly Murs: Never Been Better" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
31. "Officialcharts.de – Olly Murs – Never Been Better". GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
32. "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 48, 2014". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
33. "Norwegiancharts.com – Olly Murs – Never Been Better". Hung Medien. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
34. "Swedishcharts.com – Olly Murs – Never Been Better". Hung Medien. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
35. "Swisscharts.com – Olly Murs – Never Been Better". Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
36. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
37. "Olly Murs – Chart history" Billboard 200 for Olly Murs. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
38. Lane, Daniel (1 January 2016). "End of Year Album Chart Top100 - 2015". Official Charts Company.
39. Lane, Daniel (1 January 2015). "End of Year Album Chart Top100 - 2014". Official Charts Company.
40. "British album certifications – Olly Murs – Right Place Right Time". British Phonographic Industry. Enter Right Place Right Time in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Platinum in the field By Award. Click Search