Your Loving Arms

"Your Loving Arms" received positive reviews from most music critics. AllMusic editor John Bush described the song as a "magical electro-pop track" in his review of Deadline for My Memories.[2] On the 1994 release, Larry Flick from Billboard called it "a spirited foray into trancecarpeted hi-NRG territory. Her distinctively creamy voice has seldom sounded so strong and worldly, giving the song's romantic prose a decidedly dark and anxious edge."[3] In 1995, he added it as "an NRGetic dance number that makes excellent use of her milky soprano range. Her torchy style makes an intriguing contrast with the Grid's cool and rigid groove production."[4] He also called it "deliciously dramatic".[5] Dave Sholin from the Gavin Report commented that "there's something in Billie Ray's voice that is simply magnetic. This one-time member of London's Electribe 101 releases a lot of electricity on her own as proven by one super hot dance track."[6]

John Hamilton from Idolator described "Your Loving Arms" as "fiery", adding that it is "a predestined club classic, a pulsating techno torch song in which Martin sasses, vamps, and pleads over ominous rising chords and a frantic tambourine-inflected beat."[7] Howard Cohen from Knight Ridder noted that "an instantly memorable hook, retro-disco beat and warm, inviting vocals make this the most musical dance offering 1995 has offered so far."[8] Music & Media wrote, "Is there such a thing as adult-orientated pop dance? If there isn't yet, then it is debuting right here thanks to a lady who looks like Marianne Faithfull's twin sister with the voice of Carly Simon."[9] Barry Walters from Spin said it "was the pop song with underground credibility, one that everyone could agree had something special. Martin's lyrics speak of profound joy and pain, the melody soars through consciousness like a caress, and the vocal sets itself apart from the wailing of generic gut-busting divas."[10]

"Your Loving Arms" was a major hit in Europe and remains Ray Martin's most successful song to date. It went to number-one in Italy and was a Top 10 hit in Ireland, Scotland and the United Kingdom, where it peaked at number 6 in its second week on the UK Singles Chart, on May 21, 1995.[11] But on the UK Dance Chart, the single reached number 2. On the Eurochart Hot 100, "Your Loving Arms" peaked at number 21 on June 3, 1995. Outside Europe, it hit number-one on the US Billboard Dance Club Songs, number 5 in Israel and number 85 in Australia in November 1995. Additionally, the single also went to number 46 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 30 on the US Cash Box singles chart in 1996. It received a silver record in the United Kingdom with a sale of 200,000 singles.

There were made two different music videos for the song. The UK version is in black-and-white and features Ray Martin performing the song in a bedroom, sometimes lying on the bed or sitting in a chair. Other scenes features the singer walking in a garden or dancing with a man in a hallway. The second version is in colours. The UK version was uploaded to YouTube in 2014.

British magazine Mixmag listed the song at number 47 in its ranking of the 100 Greatest Dance Singles Of All Time in 1996. They wrote,

If you went into the ladies bogs in any club last summer while Billie Ray's song was playing you could see and hear all the girls joining in. Not only a top tune, Billie Ray Martin's heartfelt lyric spoke the truth about feeling insecure, needing reassurance and hating yourself for it. And, judging by the bogs, many women could recognise the sentiments Billie Ray sang with her incredible sweeping voice - the antithesis of house music's clichéd screaming divas and all the more real for it.[12]

• List of number-one dance singles of 1995 (U.S.)

• "Your Loving Arms" at Discogs (list of releases)