Matt Cardle – It’s Only Love

“Actually got me bouncing around in my seat.”

Tim: Now, this is a surprise. Credibility Cardle ditched Syco about six months ago now (that’s not the surprise – I’m amazed it took him that long), and now he’s come along with this. Which is pretty much everything we didn’t associate with him before.

Tom: My first thought on watching that video: “blimey, Johnny Vegas cleans up well”. Just an unflattering angle, I’m sure.

Tim: Probably – much as the angle on his website might make you think you’ve gone to Coldplay’s site by accident.

When We Collide was a bit boring, Amazing was a bit dull, Run For Your Life was a bit dull. We liked Starlight, which was actually pretty good, but it still didn’t quite match up to this in terms of enthusiasm, or decent backing, or (dare I say it) catchiness. Heck, this is a song that’s actually got me bouncing around in my seat, and that’s a very pleasant feeling indeed. Even more pleasant is the remix the 7th Heaven have done – they can generally be relied upon to give any track a decent overhaul, but it turns out that his vocals actually lend themselves very well to a good dance tune. Have a listen, and tell me I’m wrong.

Tom: Normally at this point, I’d chime in and say “you’re wrong” just to be contrary, but I can’t: that is a very good dance tune. In fact, I’d go so far to say that I prefer it to the original.

Tim: Me too. Neither version will succeed, of course – he’s been largely forgotten about, as with every male X Factor winner, and his last two tracks, Starlight and Amazing, hit the heady chart heights of 185 and 84 respectively. Still, it’s nice that’s he’s trying, and even nicer that he’s actually coming up with the goods.