Westlife – ‘My Love’

4 November 2000

Fair’s fair: this isn’t too bad. ‘My Love’, written and produced by whatever non-Max-Martins were in Cheiron in 2000, is better than the other Westlife singles we’ve heard at number one so far. Yes, that’s a low base.

I put most of my new pro-Westlife stance down to the melody here actually being well-written. The pre-chorus has that satisfying “holding on together” hook, which then eases into a strong chorus. Also worthy of my good will is how ‘My Love’ cuts back on the OTT vocal histrionics of previous Westlife singles – mainly because Mark, usually the most egregious offender on that front, only gets a few mid-section lines. The second verse is given to Brian, heretofore one of the lads standing at the back, and he’s never likely to cut loose with the pseudo-soul-isms.

I’ll stop short of calling ‘My Love’ good because ultimately it’s the usual saccharine, milquetoast Westlife product. It seems to be a song about someone travelling overseas for work, which in Ireland 2000 meant you were either in a boyband or brokering the sale of as-yet-unbuilt Bulgarian apartment developments to Celtic Tiger suckers. Also, I suspect the brief to Cheiron for ‘My Love’ was Celtic-tourism schmaltz, and this won’t be the last Westlife single to smell of ‘Mull Of Kintyre’. Finally, the production serves up the usual layers of gaseousness – plus the obligatory Westlife climactic key change. So, ‘My Love’ is where Westlife get a half-decent original song for a change, only to drag it promptly down to their level.