7 September 2018
Calvin Harris, with eight in total, is joint-fifth on the list of acts with the most number ones in Ireland, alongside icons like Elvis, Madonna, Britney and Dickie Rock. ‘Promises’ is the seventh of those eight and, after ‘One Kiss’ with Dua Lipa, the second for Harris in 2018 alone. What accounts for his chart-topping prowess? ‘We Found Love’ was turbo-charged by the superstar power of Rihanna and the comedy value of her Ulster farmer run-in, but I’m not sure you’d remember ‘Summer’, ‘Sweet Nothing’ or ‘We’ll Be Coming Back’ from their titles alone. Perhaps without a distinctive vocalist for longer-lasting impact, his production glitter is just enough to catch a moment.
‘Promises’ seems to bear that out. The melancholic top-end quiver in Sam Smith’s voice is a good fit for adding emotional texture to an up-tempo club track. That twinkling “tonight!” vocal hook by co-writer Jessie Reyez helps nail a chorus that’s strong to begin with. And Harris’s light-touch production choice here lets the whole thing strut a confident line between house banger and pop shimmer. It all makes ‘Promises’ the strongest of Calvin Harris’s eight Irish number ones, and that eighth will be good too. Dickie Rock can go and shite.
