McFly 'Lies'

Chart Peak: 4
YouTube (song starts at approx 1:29)

The McFly boys' latest offering, 'Lies', reached No. 4 on its release in September 2008, making that their 15th Top Ten single since they formed in 2004... They will be on a massive UK arena tour throughout the whole of November.

This was a slightly confusing point in their career, when they'd already reached the typical boy band lifespan and released a Greatest Hits album. Having parted from their major-label contract at this point they should have been on the fast track to obscurity, and giving away the original version of their fourth album as a newspaper covermount hardly seemed a show of strength.

However, they were smart or cynical enough to hold back a couple of tracks from the freebie album for the later commercial release, one of which was to be released as a single. As it turns out, 'Lies' was not only a hit but one of the best things they've ever recorded, a brilliantly arranged Britpop stomp with some tasty piano playing by local lad Tom Fletcher and a real-sounding brass section. The lyric is perhaps a little on the vicious side with its apparent (if not entirely believable) threats of violence to an ex, but that's the only flaw to what was otherwise one of the best singles of 2008. And you can quote me on that.

Also appearing on: Now 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 77, 78 (with Taio Cruz), 84
Available on: Radio:Active