HIS OWN DIRECTION
On second solo album, Niall Horan offers his hot take on heartbreak
Former One Direction singer Niall Horan might have been known as the sweet member of the Brit boy band. But at heart, he says, his ambition has always been to have his own identity as a musician.
“I think the music that I made (on Flicker) was exactly what I wanted to do. Since I was 10 years old, I knew that if I was ever lucky enough to make my own album how it would sound. I love playing the acoustic guitar and sitting at the piano ... writing sad songs. I grew up on Desperado by the Eagles,” the 26-year-old Irishman adds, his face breaking into a smile.
Horan’s Heartbreak Weather dropped on March 13. It follows his 2017 platinum-selling Flicker.
Speaking with Postmedia, Horan told more about his latest set of songs.
Q Fans have heard the first single, Nice to Meet Ya. But what direction are you going in musically for the rest of Heartbreak Weather?
A Heartbreak Weather was the first thing I wrote down on day one when I started this. I wrote down Still and Heartbreak Weather. Heartbreak Weather, to me, gets at a lot of different feelings. It has songs that reflect the sunshiny days and the rainy days — the ones when all you want to do is go and write a sad song. Nice to Meet Ya is one of those sunnier day-type songs when you’re out with your mates just rocking it out and having a good time. Then there are days when you write Put A Little Love On Me and Still. But as for the theme ... look, there are so many heartbreak records out there.
But I thought this was a good angle. So there are songs written from another person’s point of view. I tried to attack all angles of heartbreak.
Q You were in one of the biggest bands of all time. As a solo artist, did you try to consciously take yourself down different avenues that would appeal to people who weren’t One Direction fans?
A It was definitely something I thought about. You want to have your own identity when you bring out your own music. For me, it’s all about standing out from the crowd. I’ve mentioned her a lot lately, but you look at
Billie Eilish. She’s doing really well because she doesn’t sound like anyone else. She just goes about her business in her own way.
Q How do you think you’ve grown as a solo artist since stepping away from One Direction?
A You become more confident. Getting up there every night and feeling the love. But there’s no arrogance. I’ll never be arrogant. There’s no chance of that. But I like the idea of evolving and taking slow and steady steps. Never doing anything crazy that scares people off. You just bring the audience along with you the whole time. As a huge music fan, I wouldn’t want that from me. I would like to see a nice evolution. I want to surprise people, but I don’t want theme thinking, ‘Ew, he made a big mistake there.’ Hopefully people don’t think that because we all know artists who’ve brought out second and third records where people just went, ‘What the hell is that sound?’ Hopefully, fingers crossed, I haven’t done that.
Q What’s the status of One Direction?
A I wouldn’t be doing this if it wasn’t for that. Right now, everyone is having a fun time doing exactly what we said we were going to do. We left it as, ‘You want to go live in a house in the woods, do it. You want to make an album, do it. If you want to be in a movie, go try it.’ We’re still very much doing that. But if someone calls (and wants to do a reunion), I’ll do it. Of course. I love the band, I love the fans and the fun that we had. It’s something someone can only understand if they’ve done it. There would be no reason for me not to (take part in a reunion), but when it’ll happen, I don’t know. I’ll be ready to go whenever.
Q If you were going to be stuck on a desert island, which five albums are you bringing with you?
A Rumours, Fleetwood Mac, every day of the week. The Eagles Greatest Hits. What Bruce Springsteen album would I do? ... Probably his Greatest Hits, let’s go with that. O by Damien Rice. That’s an acoustic album that changed my life forever. I’ve never written a song the same since I first heard that album. F---, this is a great question. Tell you what, I was thinking about this album recently and I was listening to it the other day. I was producing a ballad and I was listening to bits and pieces of this and I just love her work. Adele’s 25. That album is off the charts. There are some unbelievable songs off that record. So that would be my fifth pick. I think it matches up nicely with the others. Damien Rice, Bruce Springsteen, Eagles, Fleetwood Mac and Adele. I think I’d take those.
Q What’s the best advice you ever got?
A If you think you’re working hard, there are a billion people working harder than you.
Q Last question, what’s your motto?
A It’s simple, but be yourself. Do what you want to do. I think people can get sucked into things other people think they should be doing. Musically, I couldn’t release an R&B album. It just wouldn’t be me. So just be yourself because you only get one go at life, so do a good job with it.