A few weeks ago, I was well impressed by the direction Harry Styles had chosen for himself when he released his debut solo single “Sign Of The Times”, but now I can say the same for other former 1D member, Niall Horan.
His first solo single, “This Town”, had already been playing on the radio for weeks before I find out it was by one of the One Direction members. The song is so fitting to the singer-songwriting sound that is already so popular at the moment, that I had never made the link to the boyband member, but just expected it to be an underground songwriter who had finally gotten a break.
Of course, you could actually say that this is also the case for Niall. He’s been writing songs for One Direction for many years and it is no surprise he would write for his solo attempt as well. In fact, it’s already led to him signing a publishing deal with the very ambitious publishing company Downtown Music for his songwriting. They have recently made several big deals and entered strategic collaborations to expand their business.
“This Town” reminds me of a little folklore, so I actually thought he would continue with songs a like, but his new single, “Slow Hands”, is a way more up-tempo, not so nostalgic and a little soulful, and I really like it. It has pleasantly surprised me and got me curious about the rest of his stuff.
Granted, it doesn’t have the same impact as Harry Styles’ “Sign Of The Times”, in which he positions himself as the potential Robbie Williams of the group. Robbie Williams continued making classic pop-rock songs after he left boyband Take That. But Niall has definitely also chosen a musical path that is a little less sensitive to trends, which makes him someone to reckon with. According to the rumors, his album could even get inspired by country music. Time will tell.
So far, Niall has released a lyrics video for the track, but that alone could function as the official video as you do see Niall perform the song, sort of. I’m sure an official video will follow later. The song has already hit number 1 on the iTunes charts in like 47 different countries.
