silly," and he elaborated that the emotional weight of the song originates from the belief that "feeling free enough to cut loose and sing in front of someone you love is an indication of extraordinary intimacy and trust." Healy also stated that Kryst partially inspired the word, as she was vocally shy and too nervous to sing around him, which he found vexing. Critical reception Norwegian NRK Petre head of music Atle Bredal said of "Sing", "It's brilliant. Classic pop with a folky feel to it. This will be on the radio the whole summer!" Another music director, Rainer Gruhn of German radio station Hundert 6, praised the song's "modern" sound and "wonderful" production. Chuck Taylor of Billboard magazine also positively reviewed the song, describing its lyrics as "playful", "silly", and "sweet", praising the "infectious" hook and going on to call Healy's performance "skillful" while noting how the band and producer Nigel Godrich, avoided turning the song into a commercial anthem. Another Billboard editor, Larry Flick, praised the contrast of the song's production with its guitar and banjo riffs. British columnist James Masterton called the song "anthemic" and noted that the song did not besmirch Travis's reputation following the promotion of their previous album The Man Who (1999). In a review of The Invisible Band on AllMusic, MacKenzie Wilson described "Sing" as "charming" and said that the banjo sets the track apart from traditional acoustic simplicities, referring to the instrument as a "mainstay". Andy Frankowski of Drowned in Sound called the track an "infectious summer song". Pitchfork writer Kristin Sage Rockermann said that while the lyrics are "banal" and the song as a whole is "cheesy", Healy's voice sounds "passionately expressive" as well as mature and wise. In more recent reviews, Mark Beaumont of NME gave "Sing" a scathing review in 2005, labelling the song a "characterless mandolin dirge" and referring to its success as alcohol-induced altruism. In 2015, the staff of Pop Rescue wrote that Healy's vocals flawlessly complement the instrumentation and were unable to identify any flaws with the song. Commercial performance In the UK, "Sing" debuted and peaked at number three on the UK Singles Chart on 3 June 2001, becoming the band's highest-charting single in the UK. It was Travis's 4th top-10 hit and stayed on the chart for 14 weeks, the longest period out of all their singles. The song ended 2001 as the nation's