Heart Skips a Beat

"Heart Skips a Beat" is a song by English singer-songwriter Olly Murs, taken from his second studio album. The song features vocals from English hip hop duo Rizzle Kicks, and was released as the album's lead single on 19 August 2011. It was written by Alex Smith, Samuel Preston, Jim Eliot and Rizzle Kicks. The song has charted at number six in Ireland, becoming his third highest-charting single in the country. In the United Kingdom, the song debuted at number one with first-week sales of over 109,000 copies, becoming his second number-one single.^[1] It has now gone onto become his most successful single release so far, having spent 6 weeks inside the UK top 10 and selling well over 400,000 copies.

Background

The song was written by Alex Smith, Samuel Preston, Jim Eliot and Rizzle Kicks for Olly Murs upcoming second studio album.^[2] It is the only song Murs did not co-write for the album: "It was a curveball and nothing like the album, but I loved the production and the writers wrote it for me."^[3]

Critical reception

Lewis Corner of Digital Spy gave the song a four out of five stars, stating, ""I don't wanna go home/ Cause when you hold me like this/ You know my heart skips, skips a beat," Murs confesses over a ska-flecked melody, reggae beats and the cheeky vocal twang that grabbed Si's attention first time out - while a skit from street-rapping duo Rizzle Kicks ensures the whole thing remains child and chart-friendly. The result is another infectious summer-pop ditty of the back garden barbecue variety - meaning his chops can rest easy... at least for now."^[4] Entertainment website 4Music gave the song a positive review: "We're loving the new track, which has a danceable chorus and some sweet rhymes from Rizzle and Harley Sylvester, who make up our new favourite hip hop duo."^[5]

Music video

A music video to accompany the release of "Heart Skips a Beat" was first released onto YouTube on 15 July 2011 at a total length of three minutes and twenty-six seconds.^[6] The music video was filmed at Mile End Skate Park. The video features Murs dancing on what looks like a giant record player, with a giant record labelled as the single. The video features numerous dancers and skateboarders as extras. A papier-mâché figure of a woman, as seen in the music video of his Busy, makes a cameo in the video for "Heart Skips a Beat".

Track listing

Charts

Release history

References