Far be it from me to review a singer who became famous from The X Factor, I do adore this song and thus, felt a strange impulse of personal duty to step forward when Ben Haenow dropped this cover last Friday.
Some may dispute it, but I believe Marvin Gaye’s Sexual Healing to be one of pop’s greatest slow jams – perhaps the smoothest song of all time. It ought to be defended as such when someone reprocesses it in the way Haenow has done.
The original, as suggested by the title, is a deeply sexualised and sensual listening experience. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for Haenow’s rendition. His approach is too preoccupied with grandeur, and totally unconcerned with allurement – which happens to be the sentiment of the song. While he may well “hit all the right notes” here, this has very little to do with the passion contained within Sexual Healing.
No doubt Haenow can sing, but it would also help if he had more empathy for the words he’s singing. His blatant disregard for the intent of the original song is probably the most grating aspect of this cover, but that’s a hard call to make. This one hasn’t got the X Factor.
