{"id":367986,"date":"2026-03-27T12:07:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T12:07:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/367986\/"},"modified":"2026-03-27T12:07:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T12:07:08","slug":"ive-stuck-to-my-guns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/367986\/","title":{"rendered":"I’ve stuck to my guns"},"content":{"rendered":"

Niall Horan<\/a> named his new single and album \u2018Dinner Party\u2019 after a low-key meal that changed his life. \u201cWell, I met my girlfriend at a dinner party, and I felt compelled to write [that song] because obviously I\u2019m still with her,\u201d he says at the start of his In Conversation<\/a> interview. \u201cSo it really became a bigger moment than just sitting down at a dinner table and having a few drinks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Due in June, \u2018Dinner Party\u2019<\/a> is Horan\u2019s fourth solo album since One Direction<\/a> \u2013 the band he conquered the world with, alongside Harry Styles<\/a>, Louis Tomlinson<\/a>, Zayn Malik<\/a> and the late Liam Payne<\/a> \u2013 went on hiatus a decade ago. He says \u201cit\u2019s not a trillion miles away\u201d from his last LP, 2023\u2019s chart-topping \u2018The Show\u2019, but the major difference is that \u2018Dinner Party\u2019 sounds \u201cway more live\u201d. And this is firmly by design.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think pop music for a long time was very compressed \u2013 you know, a very drum machine sound,\u201d Horan says. \u201cBut I feel like since Covid, really, everyone is kind of leaning towards a more live sound, which I\u2019ve been waiting for to be honest, because all of my influences are very live-sounding in their recordings.\u201d<\/p>\n

He cites fellow Irishman Damien Rice<\/a> as a particular influence on the album\u2019s ballads, which include the lovely, vulnerable \u2018Better Man\u2019. \u201cAll Damien Rice\u2019s recordings sound like they were just done in his living room,\u201d Horan says, \u201cand I wanted to try and get that across and in how we recorded this time.\u201d Once again, Horan hunkered down with songwriter-producers Julian Bunetta and John Ryan, with whom he\u2019s been working since the 1D days. \u201cThey can push me to write] \u2018Better Man\u2019, whereas I can\u2019t push myself to write \u2018Better Man\u2019,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s almost become a clich\u00e9 to call Horan friendly and down-to-earth, but that\u2019s exactly the impression he makes during a relaxed and revealing In Conversation interview. Today, he readily admits \u201cthere was no guarantee I\u2019d get past single one\u201d when he launched his solo career with \u2018This Town\u2019, a tender acoustic ballad, in September 2016. He also talks about how Radiohead<\/a> inspired his new album, the One Direction song he thinks is due for a revival, and the weirdest place he\u2019s heard his music.<\/p>\n

\"\"Photo Credit: Zackery Michael<\/p>\n

Hi, Niall! So, which song on the album do you think will surprise people the most?<\/p>\n

\u201cI think \u2018Tastes So Good\u2019. It\u2019s quite aggressive for me \u2013 in a great way. Inspiration-wise, I listened to a lot of Radiohead making this [and drew from] Thom Yorke\u2019s<\/a> melodic standpoint of, like, not having many words in a phrase\u2026 I was just trying to drag the phrase out with not a lot of words. [Whereas] usually I would try and fit in as many words [as possible].\u201d<\/p>\n

Does that feel counter-intuitive in a way? Because obviously you\u2019re trying to express as much as possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just think it allows you to get the thought across in a more condensed way, and the listener still understands what you\u2019re trying to get at. You don\u2019t have to over-explain yourself. Some songs require it; some songs don\u2019t. But I just like the drawly-ness of Thom Yorke\u2019s [vocal]\u2026 maybe \u2018drawl\u2019 is the wrong word, but [the way] he kind of elongates everything, it sounds darker and deeper. I mean, obviously Thom Yorke is an absolute genius, but I think there\u2019s a lot of \u201990s stuff that comes into this album\u2026 if I was to stick a decade on it, I would say \u201990s is probably the most prevalent across the board.\u201d<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve recently announced the \u2018Dinner Party\u2019 tour<\/a>. At this point, how do you decide which One Direction songs make it into your live show? Because you could do none, if you wanted to.<\/p>\n

\u201cI could do, yeah, but I feel like I\u2019d be doing the band a disservice because there\u2019s some great [One Direction] songs. You know, you want to play great songs, and I was in that band, so that\u2019s helpful. I\u2019ve played \u2018Drag Me Down\u2019, \u2018Fool\u2019s Gold\u2019, \u2018Night Changes\u2019\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

And \u2018Stockholm Syndrome\u2019 quite a lot.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I was putting that in and out in the last tour\u2026 I\u2019ll just play my favourites, I suppose. And I try and stay away from [a song] if the lads are doing it. Like, if Harry\u2019s touring and he\u2019s playing \u2018What Makes Me Beautiful\u2019 every night, it\u2019d be a bit stupid for me to do the same song at the same time. Or Louis did \u2018Drag Me Down\u2019 on his first tour, so I kept away from that [at first], and then I did it on the next tour\u2026 Also, [it\u2019s about] what kind of vibe matches? What\u2019s next? What\u2019s either side of the song? I try and think about it that way, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

If any One Direction song could pop off on TikTok<\/a>, which would you like it to be?<\/p>\n

\u201cI think \u2018Steal My Girl\u2019 \u2013 hot take! Imagine if every time someone asked me, \u2018What\u2019s your hot take?\u2019, I was like, \u2018Well, I think Steal My Girl\u2019 should have been bigger. But no, [seriously], I think \u2018Steal My Girl\u2019 was robbed of its day in the sun. I think \u2018Fool\u2019s Gold\u2019 is underrated too to be honest, but \u2018Steal My Girl\u2019 is the one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Your debut album \u2018Flicker\u2019<\/a> will turn 10 next year. Is there potential for a 10th anniversary deluxe edition with bonus tracks? Fans love that kind of thing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember [when] a deluxe used to be a place where I would hide songs that I didn\u2019t particularly like\u2026 but now I get excited for the deluxe. A couple of the songs that\u2019ll be on my deluxe this time are among my favourites; I just needed to make a 12-track album and, like, I didn\u2019t really know how to put that jigsaw puzzle together\u2026 But maybe I could have a little dig and see what I can find in the old Dropbox. Because there\u2019s probably a couple of good ones in there. Maybe you\u2019ve just come up with an idea?\u201d<\/p>\n

Where\u2019s the weirdest place you\u2019ve heard one of your songs?<\/p>\n

\u201cActually, I was talking to someone about this yesterday, but there was an Indian restaurant next to my old house in Gloucester Road, and the first time I ever went in there, this guy who\u2019s the manager \u2013 he\u2019s this big, big character \u2013 just started playing my music. And I was like, \u2018No. What makes him think that I want this?\u2019 If you\u2019re a restaurant or bar owner, please don\u2019t play my music while we walk in because it makes me want to leave! But the food was so good that I kept going back. And he actually ended up being a nice man.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the weirdest place? I remember being on an island in the Philippines called El Nido and hearing a 1D song called \u2018Never Enough\u2019 \u2013 a deep, deep cut. Hearing that song in a little shack on the beach [was] really random. Where else? I went to get a facial one day and they had an acoustic playlist on, and \u2018This Town\u2019 came on as I was sitting there in my goggles under an LED light.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Photo Credit: Zackery Michael<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s end with a cheesy question: what are you most proud of at this point in your career?<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m happy with the authenticity in my music. I\u2019ve stuck to my guns on the type of music that I make, and it\u2019s stood me in good stead longevity-wise. I say that \u2013 it\u2019s only been 15 years [since One Direction launched], so let\u2019s not call it longevity yet! But you know what I mean\u2026 And I\u2019m proud of how it\u2019s slowly got a little bit bigger each time. It\u2019s not easy out there. There\u2019s a lot of big artists doing big things that stream bigger than me and sell more records than me\u2026 But you know, my first [solo] tour was small theatres and the next one was an arena tour, and hopefully I can keep on doing that.\u201d<\/p>\n

It feels as though you really can trust your gut. I mean, \u2018This Town\u2019 was quite understated for a debut solo single, and it\u2019s now got over a billion streams on Spotify.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, it\u2019s funny, because I don\u2019t think anyone was shocked when I released \u2018This Town\u2019\u2026 I think they expected to be the guy with the guitar; I think that was quite a natural place for me to go. But when \u2018This Time\u2019 came out, it was a world of \u2013 if I\u2019m not mistaken \u2013 EDM at the time, and it kind of stood out because it was the only song in the chart that was literally just [a singer] and a guitar.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd the same with \u2018Slow Hands\u2019 \u2013 like, it\u2019s a pop record, but it\u2019s got an \u201980s kind of Don Henley riff to it, and it\u2019s quite groovy. I remember performing at the American Music Awards, when I won Best New Artist, and all the other performances were so different to what I was about to do. And I was thinking, \u2018I\u2019m happy with that, because it\u2019s nice to stand out sometimes.\u2019 But I think you do have to have a bit of luck as well as the songs being good. You have to be in the right place at the right time. So yeah, let\u2019s see how the next stuff goes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Niall Horan\u2019s album \u2018Dinner Party\u2019 is released June 5 via Capitol Records.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Niall Horan named his new single and album \u2018Dinner Party\u2019 after a low-key meal that changed his life.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":367987,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[93,61,38957,60,282],"class_list":{"0":"post-367986","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-ie","10":"tag-in-conversation","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-tv"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=367986"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367986\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/367987"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=367986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=367986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=367986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}