"Busy" is a pop song performed by British singer-songwriter

Olly Murs Oliver Stanley Murs (born 14 May 1984) is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. He rose to prominence after participating on the sixth series of the television talent show ''The X Factor'' in 2009, where he finished as runn ...

, taken from his debut studio album, ''

''. It was written by Murs, Adam Argyle, Martin Brammer, and was released as the fourth and final single from the album on 27 May 2011. It was his second single to not be accompanied by a physical CD single. The song was also Murs' first single release to fail to reach the UK Top 40.

Background

The song was co-written by Murs, along with Adam Argyle and Martin Brammer, for his debut album, ''

''. The single was released featuring two B-sides, new song "Takes a Lot", and an acoustic version of " Please Don't Let Me Go". The song instrumental was used as a backing track for

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food adverts from the year of release to May 2013 and as the theme tune to the

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

sitcom '' Me and Mrs Jones''. The single's release fell right in the middle of Murs' first ever theatre tour, so promotion, as with his previous release, was limited. The song was performed at

Radio 1's Big Weekend BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend (R1BW) (previously known as One Big Weekend, for 2012 as Radio 1's Hackney Weekend, and for 2018 as BBC Music's Biggest Weekend) is a British music festival run by BBC Radio 1. It is held once a year, in a different l ...

in Carlisle on 15 May 2011, on ''

Paul O'Grady Live ''Paul O'Grady Live'' is a British comedy chat show hosted by Paul O'Grady, that began airing on 10 September 2010 on ITV. The show is a Friday night chat show that features a mixture of celebrity guests, airing at 21:00. The show culminates w ...

'' on 27 May 2011, and on '' This Morning'' on 2 'June 2011.

Critical reception

David Griffiths from

4Music 4Music was a British music television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. Launched on 15 August 2008, the original incarnation, replacing The Hits television channel, showed a mix of music and entertainment pr ...

described "Busy" as "another slice of breezy, feel-good pop".

Music video

The music video for "Busy" was uploaded onto Murs's Vevo account on 6 April 2011 and was directed by Corin Hardy, who has previously shot videos for Keane and

McFly McFly are a British pop rock band formed in London in 2003. The band took their name from the ''Back to the Future (franchise), Back to the Future'' character Marty McFly. The band consists of Tom Fletcher (lead vocals, guitar, and piano), Da ...

, and takes its inspiration from the independent film ''

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'', as well as a number of other American independent films. Hardy wanted a "sweet and colourful" video to accompany the "catchy" song, and to "bend the rules" of the usual pop video. It features Murs playing an eccentric character dressed in 1970s clothing, who creates a life-size girlfriend (his "perfect girl") named Rose out of

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, then spends time with her, such as reading books, playing a guitar and going for a drive, and eventually falls in love with her. At the end of the video, Rose becomes a real person. The video stars Brazilian student and actress Patricia Duarte as Murs' girlfriend. David Renshaw from PopDash called the video "slightly creepy but fun".

Track listing

Charts

Release history

References

{{Olly Murs 2011 singles Olly Murs songs Songs written by Olly Murs Songs written by Martin Brammer Songs written by Adam Argyle