Sunday (Hurts song)

"Sunday" is a song by English musical duo Hurts. It was released on 27 February 2011 as the fourth single from their debut album, Happiness (2010). Despite the moderate chart success, the song received mixed response from critics, who complimented the sound of the song, but criticized the lyrics. Some of them called it flimsy and thought it was bland, and noted that the song has "lack of depth".

"Sunday"
Single by Hurts
from the album Happiness
B-side"Live Like Horses"
Released27 February 2011 (2011-02-27)
RecordedSunshine Studios (Manchester, England); Pellerin (Gothenburg, Sweden)
Length3:52
Label
  • Major Label
  • RCA
Songwriter(s)Hurts
Producer(s)
Hurts singles chronology
"All I Want for Christmas Is New Year's Day"
(2010)		 "Sunday"
(2011)		 "Illuminated" / "Better Than Love"
(2011)

Critical reception

"Sunday" received generally mixed reviews from music critics. Alix Buscovic of BBC Music described the song as a "power-dressed Europop floor-filler that channels early Depeche Mode and the PSB", which was made with "theatricality" and "a brooding demeanour", but criticized the lyrics.[1] PopMatters reviewer Joe Copplestone compared the track to New Order, deeming it "gleefully era-authentic" and commending its commercial appeal.[2]

While commenting on the "lack of depth" of the lyrics in Happiness, Sam Shepherd from musicOMH praised Anderson's work, with the song's mix of "Eastern Bloc industrial pomp with Eurovision disco pop" having a "surprisingly engaging effect."[3] In the Drowned in Sound review, Andrzej Lukowski considers "Sunday" to cross into "boyband territory", having "a decent hi-NRG synth line", nevertheless a "desperately gauche" feature.[4] Similarly, Alexis Petridis from The Guardian felt it was "flimsy and commonplace", stating that, similar to the other albums tracks, it's a "climax" without any "build-up".[5]

Music video

The music video was directed by W.I.Z., who also directed the duo's first video, "Better Than Love" in 2010. It was filmed in Romania, at MediaPro Studios. Theo Hutchcraft stated that the video follows a similar theme to the group's others, adding "it's nice to go away to film the videos because you live in a different world for a few days[...] We go to an exotic, beautiful place, think of a theme that no-one else will understand except us, and surround us with women so people won't ask us what it's about!"[6]

Live performances

Hurts performed the single live at The Graham Norton Show, which was their first performance of the song on a television programme.[7]

Track listings
  1. "Sunday"
  2. "Live Like Horses"
  1. "Sunday"
  2. "Sunday" (Seamus Haji Remix)
  • Digital bundle[8]
  1. "Sunday"
  2. "Sunday" (Seamus Haji Remix)
  3. "Sunday" (Midland Remix)
  4. "Sunday" (Tom Flynn Remix)
  5. "Sunday" (Glam As You Radio Mix)

Charts
Chart (2011–12) Peak
position
Belgium (Ultratip Bubbling Under Flanders)[9] 20
Hungary (Single Top 40)[10] 8
Romania (Romanian Top 100)[11] 76
UK Singles (OCC)[12] 57

References
  1. Buscovic, Alix (6 September 2010). "Hurts Happiness Review". BBC Music. Retrieved 21 February 2011.
  2. Copplestone, Joe. "Hurts: Happiness". PopMatters. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
  3. Shepherd, Sam. "Hurts - Happiness". musicOMH. Retrieved 21 February 2011.
  4. Lukowski, Andrzej. "Hurts Happiness". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on 15 August 2020. Retrieved 21 February 2011.
  5. Petridis, Alexis. "Hurts: Happiness CD review". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 February 2011.
  6. Copsey, Robert. "Exclusive: Hurts promise "exotic" music video". Digital Spy. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
  7. "Hurts Performing On The Graham Norton Show Tonight". informationhurts.com. 18 February 2011. Archived from the original on 27 February 2011. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
  8. "Sunday". informationhurts.com. Archived from the original on 15 March 2012. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
  9. "Hurts – Sunday" (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
  10. "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Single (track) Top 40 lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
  11. "Romanian Top 100 - 8 mai 2011 partea2". Kiss FM. 8 May 2011. Archived from the original on 10 September 2012. Retrieved 23 September 2022. If the user accesses the link, the respective podcast will start downloading automatically.
  12. "Hurts: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
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