Olly Murs has dropped a surprising new album called Knees Up in which he sings about Tesco’s mangoes, and the record is well and truly dividing fans.
The Dance With Me Tonight hitmaker, 41, whose last album was 2022’s Marry Me, released the 12-track record on November 21 and fans can’t get over his new-found bouncy style.
While some have compared dad-of-two Olly’s new work to The Madness and said it’s the most ‘him’ album yet, others have less flatteringly likened it to Robbie Williams’ Rudebox turn in 2006.
However, one piece of lyricism which has particularly stood out to fans came in the eighth track Yesterday’s News, in which the Troublemaker hitmaker sings: ‘Some said I’d be spotted nude / In Tesco’s by the mangoes in an old pair of shoes.’
Taking to TikTok, scott.sl thought Olly’s pronunciation sounded strange: ‘No Olly you need stopped, what is with these weird accents helpppp “in Tescos by the mangooooss”.’
Ems said, ‘this is going to be stuck in my head though lolss,’ while Sarel added: ‘As a girl who used to love Olly I’m trying to force myself to like this song.’
‘Olly Murs or Shakespeare?’ joked Jordan Rawling on top of the lyrics about mangoes.
Also on TikTok, fatpheebs commented on Olly’s apparent genre transition for the album, saying: ‘Genuinely thought I’d dreamt that Olly Murs had attempted Ska for his new album so imagine my shock when I woke up to find out that is 1000000% true.’
Another user danced around their house looking shifty to the first track of the album, Knees Up, while observing that this ‘new Olly Murrs song is giving villain sneaking’ in a post liked more than 21,000 times.
‘It’s like that time when Robbie dropped Rudebox,’ said amyjones889, while Megan McCann said: ‘He’s desperate to be Madness for some reason.’
Other fans flocked to support Olly though, as meghanmacmanus said: ‘Olly could write romeo and juliet but shakespeare could never write this masterpiece.’
Many fans were loving the new tracks from The X Factor star, as Bella said, ‘ALBUM IS SO GOOD!’
‘Obsessed already 👌🏼This album is SO you, gonna be a vibe hearing it live,’ said stxceylouise, while paitonkilbyleigh added: ‘Oh murs i LOVE the album. the jazz/blues vibe songs are UNREAL. the songs are just you & so different but in a good way. it is going to be on repeat.’
megan.mealing said, ‘It soooo good! Love=Madness and Cut To The Chase are firm faves,’ while saral.l.newsome raved: ‘I listened to it at midnight I absolutely love it.’
While announcing the release of his eighth album last week, Olly worried fans by joking that it would be his last.
‘Murs army, morning! Yes album eight is out – Knees Up. The end, the last one, 15 years of hard graft comes down to this,’ he said on social media.
‘I hope you guys enjoy the last ever Murs album. I’ve loved every minute of it. Time for me to hang the mic up. Last show is December 8th. Can’t wait – let’s have it. I’ll see you all on the flip side.’
However, Olly then confirmed this was just a joke, and he was not, in fact, hanging his mic up any time soon.
Chatting to Hits Radio over the weekend, he said: ‘For the millions of people that are watching this, you’re going to be disappointed that I’m not retiring.
‘There’s this Instagram thing I’m in, like my Murs Army, like my fans.
‘And I just did, like, a voice note in there, just like ‘come on guys…album’s out today…this could be the last album, I’m gonna retire’, having a laugh.
‘And somehow it’s been pigeon-holed out of it into the press.’
Olly recently chatted with Metro fresh off his nationwide tour and weeks after becoming a dad to two, revealing he’s mastered the art of simply… ‘not giving a f**k’.
Quizzed on what the Knees Up chapter represents, having described it as ‘Olly 2.0′, the Dear Darlin’ hitmaker says he’s finally releasing the music he’s ‘always wanted’ to share.
‘The last 15 years of songs have been truly amazing, and I’ve loved it all,’ Olly said, having secured five UK number one albums to date.
‘But this new era of Olly 2.0 is the first time in my career I’ve done an album that I wanted to do, not the album I think people want me to do.
‘It’s still me, obviously, but it’s been influenced a lot by the early albums I did.’
He continued: ‘I loved what I did back in the day, but I was very squeaky clean. Now, I’m a bit rough around the edges! I’ve been around the block, so I can have more fun.
‘When artists come out with their first album, there’s the pressure of, is it gonna connect? Are people gonna like it? Are people gonna buy into it? And then when you’ve done it for seven or eight years, those sorts of things don’t f***ing bother me anymore.
‘I wish I could get a number one record, and I hope I do, but, at the same time, if I don’t, I don’t care. I’ve picked up a number one before.
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