Never Been Better

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.

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. On 28 September, Murs announced that the title of the album will be called Never Been Better and also announced the track list 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.

"Beautiful to Me" was released as fourth single on 28 May 2015. The song peaked at number 93 in the UK Singles Chart.

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

"Stevie Knows" was released as the promotional single on 11 December 2015 from the album reissued special edition.

Critical reception
Reviews for Never Been Better were mixed. Writing for 4music.com, Jessica Lever gave the album a 4/5 score, 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." 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." 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".

Commercial performance
Never Been Better debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, selling 92,597 copies in its first week. 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.

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

Personnel
Credits for the album adapted from AllMusic.


 * Vern Asbury – bass
 * John August – assistant engineer, background vocals
 * Simon Baggs – violin
 * Tom Barnes – drums, background vocals
 * 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, alto saxophone, baritone saxophone
 * Ben Collier – programming, string programming
 * Maegan Cottone – background vocals
 * Tom Coyne – mastering
 * Cutfather – producer
 * Rosie Danvers – cello, string arrangements
 * Daniel Davidsen – bass, drum programming, guitar, instrumentation, producer, programming
 * Alison Dods – violin
 * Ian Dowling – engineer
 * Jason Elliott – vocal engineer
 * Jason Evigan – 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 – percussion
 * Peter Hanson – violin
 * Jacqueline Hartley – violin
 * Wayne Hector – background vocals
 * John Heley – celli
 * Richard Henry – trombone
 * George Hogg – trumpet
 * Kiris Houston – bass, guitar, organ, piano
 * Sally Jackson – violin
 * Bryony James – cello
 * Iain James – background vocals
 * Martin Johnson – engineer, guitars, instrumentation, percussion, piano, producer, programming, background vocals
 * Magnus Johnston – violin
 * Beverley Jones – double bass
 * Joe Kearns – engineer, vocal engineer
 * Paul Kegg – celli
 * Pete Kelleher – keyboards
 * Claude Kelly – background vocals
 * The Kick Horns – brass
 * Patrick Kiernan – strings, violin
 * Ben Kohn – guitar, percussion, background vocals
 * 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 – background vocals
 * Steve Mac – brass arrangement, keyboards, producer, string arrangements
 * Wil Malone – string arrangements, string conductor
 * Travie McCoy – 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 – primary artist, lead vocals
 * Everton Nelson – violin
 * John Newman – background vocals
 * Serge Nudel – engineer
 * Emma Owens – viola
 * Brandon Paddock – additional production, bass, engineer, programming, background vocals
 * Kerenza Peacock – violin
 * Daniel Pierce – background vocals
 * Mike Posner – 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 – instrumentation, mixing, producer, string arrangements
 * Jenny Sacha – violin
 * Tim Sanders – brass arrangement, tenor saxophone
 * Frank Schaefer – celli
 * Jamie Scott – 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 – instrumentation, producer, programming, vocal engineer, background vocals
 * 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 – drum programming, instrumentation, keyboards, piano, producer, programming, background vocals
 * Allen Walley – bass, double bass
 * Leah Weller – background vocals
 * Paul Weller – guitar, piano, producer, background vocals
 * 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 – instrumentation, producer, programming
 * Joe Zook – mixing

Never Been Better: Special Edition
Never Been Better: (Special Edition) is a reissue of the album. It was released on 20 November 2015, through Epic Records and Syco Music. Never Been Better (Special Edition) features seven new tracks and a DVD, Olly Murs: Never Been Better Tour.