It’s not that the guy doesn’t have my vote anymore, but like all politicians, now that Murs is a candidate he’s lost some of the populist charm that made him so appealing in the first place. On his major-label debut, Murs For President, Murs fights like hell to keep what’s bound to be a short-lived position on the Warner Bros. records roster, largely benching his longtime producer of choice, 9th Wonder, in favor of big, flashy outsourced beats that throb and grind with all the an ’80s hard-rock song—seriously; electric guitars are all over this album—and bringing in some big name ringers, will.i.am and full-time-phoner-inner Snoop Dogg, who does little to hide his boredom here. Murs is still charming as hell, but for all the blood, sweat and tears he put into this album, nothing works as well as those down-to-earth, way-of-the-world songs he churned out effortlessly on past albums. Only stops running for office and returns to well-worn love and relationship territory in the album’s final act does he sound truly comfortable him.
