In five short years The Feeling’s infectious tunes have crept into pop music culture with a number of top ten singles and a number one album.

Whilst the singles may not have always topped the charts, they have shown how infectious they are with their volume of radio play. Back in 2006 The Feeling were the most played band on radio with on average 267 plays a day of their four singles. In 2007 they won the prestigious Ivor Novello Awards as Songwriters of the Year.

Lead singer Dan Gillespie Sells and bassist Richard Jones are both products of The Brit School who went on to meet up with the rest of the band whilst they were all studying music at the University of Westminster. The education shows in their well crafted pop songs. The Feeling may be a band who are dismissed by many as lightweight, however there is no denying that their songs get into your head.

The album draws on The Feeling’s three previous albums with a new version of the song Rosé which is currently running on TV as part of Burberry’s body fragrance campaign.

So five years in it is time to look back at their output with their new album Singles 2006-2011 which is released this Monday.

Speaking about the album, lead singer Sells said: “The Burberry advert is going to take our music to parts of the world where it’s never been before, so we wanted to put together a retrospective of some of our best moments for anyone who has just discovered us. Plus, we’ve been releasing records for half a decade now, which feels like something worth celebrating. It’s definitely a collection of songs that we’re very proud of.”

I must admit that whilst I’ve never been a follower of The Feeling I have been very impressed having seen them live twice in the past year at the Royal Albert Hall, first supporting Squeeze for The Teenage Cancer Trust and last week playing as part of The Princes Trust Rock Gala.

It was at last week’s gig that I heard them play Rosé and I started to take more notice. Having now had a week to listen to the album I must say that it’s currently on repeat and I’m enjoying it far more than I thought I would. With tracks such as Fill my little world, Never be lonely and Love it when you call the album has lots of hooks to keep you interested, however it also has tracks that may not be so initial catchy however are as equally rewarding.

For me tracks like Strange and Leave me out of it (with additional vocals by Jones’ wife Sophie Ellis Bexter) add extra depth to the album if for no other reason that they aren’t so familiar.

In the lead up to the festive season one surprise release that wasn’t a big hit is Feels like Christmas. This wasn’t well promoted when first released but could well of been a big hit given the right promotion. It’s a shame that the Burberry advert is the thing bringing a spotlight onto this release as it would have been an ideal time to re-release this again.

Overall a very enjoyable collection of perfect pop 8/10

The Feeling are doing a few festive dates in the lead up to Christmas….
Tue, Dec 20 – Bath Komedia (14+)
Wed, Dec 21 – London Scala (16+)
Thu, Dec 22 – Brighton Komedia (14+)

Full tracklisting for Singles 2006-2011;
1. ‘Fill My Little World’
2. ‘Sewn’
3. ‘Never Be Lonely’
4. ‘Love It When You Call’
5. ‘Rosé (Original version)’
6. ‘Strange’
7. ‘I Thought It Was Over’
8. ‘Without You’
9. ‘Turn It Up’
10. ‘Join With Us’
11. ‘Set My World On Fire’
12. ‘A Hundred Sinners’ (Come and Get It)
13. ‘Leave Me Out Of It’
14. ‘Rosé (Burberry version)’ (Bonus track).