Every Single Album - Zayn, Louis, and Liam's Solo Careers | Every Single Album: One Direction

Episode Date: May 12, 2022

So what happened to all of the other boys after One Direction split up? It's time to talk about Zayn, Louis, and Liam's respective solo careers. Nora and Nathan talk about Zayn Malik's hit "Pillowtalk" and his turn toward R&B music (8:36), Liam Payne leaning into club music with songs like "Strip That Down" and "Familiar" (46:55), and Louis Tomlinson being inspired by bands like Oasis (55:26). Hosts: Nora Princiotti and Nathan Hubbard Producer: Kaya McMullen Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Yo, Rob Harvilla from 60 Songs That Explain the 90s here to inform you that we are back with 30 more songs because the 90s were super long and had a ton of rad music. Please join us every Wednesday for more 60 songs that explain the 90s only on Spotify. Hello and welcome to every single album One Direction. I'm Norvon Ciadi. I am here as always with Nathan Hubbard. Nathan, how are you doing on this fine Wednesday on which we are recording? I'm exhausted. We had to go through a lot of.

lot of stuff for this podcast. That's true. That's very true. A lot of stuff. Because we are here to talk about Zane. We're going to talk about Louis. We're going to talk about Liam. We're going to talk about as much as we possibly can without accidentally doing a three-hour

podcast. Kaya is now crying on the Zoom. Yeah. Of what they did post one direction. So there is a lot to get through. Let's do a quick rundown just so people sort of know what we have to pull from here. of the big picture of what all these guys were up to from late 2015, early 2016, until now, just so people know sort of what was up for grabs here.

So for Zane, Zane releases his first album, Mind of Mine of Mine, in March 2016. March 25, to be exact. We know, which we know. Icarus Falls' second album comes out in 2018. It was supposed to come out in 2017, kept getting delayed. Nobody's listening was his third album. That came out in 2020.

Do we call the yellow tape an album? Like just a couple of basically rap songs an album? Be quiet, Papa said so. Come his daddy on my dad floor. Nice silent why you mighto It doesn't count I don't think it's an album But it was sort of like a three-song

Little EP Surprise release And that was in 2021 Zane's got a whole bunch of Collaborations, singles stuff that comes out through all of the album cycles So all of that we can talk about

He Outside of music Has a rather tumultuous relationship With Gigi deed They break up, they get back together They have a daughter in 2020 they break up again last year. It's all very dramatic.

So that's Dane. Louis puts out a bunch of singles. And was also on the X Factor as a judge. He was the winning mentor to Dalton Harris in 2018. And then his first solo album, Walls, comes out in January 2020. But these high walls came on. Nathan, Walls debuted at number nine. This was like kind of a surprise to me when I went back and checked into this a little bit more.

We're going to have to talk about this. Yes. We're definitely going to talk about walls. Then very sadly, Louis goes through a lot of personal tragedy in this time period. He loses his mom to leukemia in 2016. One of his sisters dies of an. accidental overdose in 2019, not that long before walls come out.

So pretty tricky and really sad personal period for him. He and Brianna Youngworth do have their son, Freddie, in January 2016. So excited to talk about the music stuff with Louis. Also just a lot going on in his life. Then we've got our guy Liam. Who's Guy Liam? My guy, Liam. Our guy Liam?

My guy Liam. Okay. Fine. He puts out the single strip that down with Cuevo in 2017. Very excited to talk about that, actually. There's a bunch of other stuff here and there. He and Zane both have songs that appear on various 50 Shades of Grey movie soundtracks. But Liam has for you with Rita Ora.

Can I tell you something, Nathan? that I discovered in the research process for this episode that I just like need to discuss. Okay. Okay. So that song was, I believe, for the 50 Shades Freed soundtrack, which is the one that has... Didn't see it. I didn't, I've seen, I saw the first 50 Shades movie on Valentine's Day, the year that it came out with a bunch of friends in college. Needless to say, I was single at the time.

Good work. Mr. Gray will see you now. That's not the soundtrack that the Zanes... This is not the soundtrack that Zane and Taylor's song is on. No. However... The, like, big budget single for this soundtrack was the L.A. Goulding song, Love Me Like You Do, which is the pop, by the way.

Yeah, good song. However, there is a bonus edition of this soundtrack that includes... Jamie Dornan covering Jamie Dornan who plays What's His Face Gray? Yeah. The guy. The guy.

Covering Paul McCartney's Maybe I'm amazed. Yeah. Maybe I'm a lonely man that's in the middle of something that he doesn't really understand. What's wrong with that? I happen.

I don't know. It's like really weird. How did they make a third one of these? I mean, how did this become a trilogy? Okay. It's like very... That's sort of my reaction to now, just looking back and being like, these are good songs.

How do they have the budget for this? Yeah. The 50 Shades franchise was a pretty big deal in the moment. But was it as a movie? I mean, a lot of people saw those movies. The book was a big deal. But like, did the movies really... I mean, I didn't even get to the third.

I don't know. I mean, I didn't either, but the first one was a huge deal. Huge is maybe an overstatement. But I remember when it was coming out, being in college, and like a lot of different groups of friends being like, you know, it's going to be hysterical. Let's maybe sneak some illicit beverages into the movie theater. Right.

And I'll go see this movie. Right. And it was a good time. Well, for you featuring Rita Orr is not bad. I think it's probably the best part of that movie. It's my guess. Yeah, we can, as far as that movie, I can only guess, but I do like the song.

And Liam sounds very good on it. Liam also releases LP1. Yeah. In 2019. Didn't do so great. It didn't do so great. I think it has some fun songs on it, though. We'll talk about it.

Yeah. That's pretty much it. Just wanted to sort of stage that. so that people know the stuff that we're pulling from here, although Nathan could always surprise me. You never know. We never know. All right.

Tell me of all that we just discussed, who had the biggest hit? Well, I don't think it's up for debate. It's pillow talk and it's Zane. This was... That's what I have to. number one song, this was Gigi Hadid makeout video that set a lot of things on fire. This song could never be a One Direction song.

And that's what I love about it. I mean, it really was a moment this song. Totally. It's funny. We're going to have to spend a lot of time talking about Zayin's solo career and what's great about it. also what pretty clearly has gone wrong with it in a lot of ways. He does these three albums.

The third one actually does slightly better than the second one, but commercially the arrow points very clearly downward to the extent that then because I think in part of that and then he's having some problems with his relationship with his label. He ends up getting dropped. It's sort of unclear what's going to happen next. part of, I think, what happened is that the second and third albums didn't have a pillow talk, right? And that might have been kind of on purpose. There's so much of Zane that is sort of reflexively not inclined to seek out huge spotlights and sort of huge radio play hits. What I think is so great about pillow talk is that it feels so much like what he wanted to do. So much like Zane, clearly what he was interested in.

But it's also this great song that a lot of people heard and really helped them hear more of what he had to offer on the first album. I think when we get into the second and third albums, it becomes pretty obvious that he's hoping that he can get people to hear the stuff without making the effort to have some big hits and to, promote the stuff really actively, and it ends up being, I think, at the detriment of people hearing the rest of the music. But clearly that did not happen with Pillow Talk. Yeah, it didn't. And I actually think mind of mind as a whole

is an astonishing album. I mean, it's R&B, but it's almost genreless. And that's what makes it really exciting. It's sparse. It's ethereal. There's like the koali singing on it. And like all of the sexual innuendo of 1D is gone and now it's just in your face. And you can see

why he wanted to leave the band. Again, this could never be a 1D song. And he took, I think, 46 songs or something and whiled it down to this album. And it flows, even though we work with a bunch of different producers,

like it flows from one song to the neck. I mean, the whole thing is a vibe. This song stands out. But it's not the only song that's worth listening to on this album. This is a real piece of art for me. Totally. And his voice carries it.

I think especially, mind of mine is probably the best example of it, but I think he tends to do a very good job of mostly using his instrument in these different ways that really highlight the strength of it. Now, I think sometimes when the songs are weaker, it's actually because the production really muddles it.

but even on, like, the song, Flower. When he's... It's just unbelievable to hear him doing that sort of warbling. Yeah, it's just unbelievable. Blending, like, the Pakistani roots with the Indian music, his father used to play. Like, it's just this beautiful. So you can almost hear, like, the call to prayer in the background.

Yeah, no, it's really stunning. And it's the type of thing that, like, clearly there's sort of some, there's some darkness to the Zane story arc that we've talked about a bunch. And I keep getting reminded of that just hearing how great of a voice he has. Because it really is a spectacular thing. And when it works, it really, really works. Pillow talk is what I had for the biggest hit to. Nothing else in here hits number one. Was there anything else that you thought about making an argument for?

I mean, look, I think Strip That Down featuring Cuevo is a big song. Wayvo! You know I love it when the music's love, but come and strip that down for me. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, I don't like it, but it sounds like you have some thoughts. I kind of love it. Do you really? I kind of love it.

It's his I'm out of 1D. Like, they all have, I'm out of 1D freedom songs. You know I used to be in 1D, God, I'm out of free. People want me for one thing. That's not me. Can I, can we just skip to Best Song so that I can just, like, be completely out of control for a second? Okay.

So, Liam, I love you. This is, like, the most Liam love that, this is the most out of control, Liam love. is that I am choosing for the best song out of everything that there is to offer. The strip that down Nevada remix. Come on. So put your hands on my body and swing that proud for me. It's so good. No.

Have you been sipping on Picardian Coke? But I would like to listening to just like a really kind of mechanical. play at incorporating like tropical house into this collaboration. I can't believe you're picking this on. It's a total bop. It's like a song of the summer. I absolutely want to like hang out and listen to it.

I'm going to forget about it in, I mean, maximum eight months. But I had never heard that remix before doing the research for this pod. And I texted it to like eight of my friends and was just like, guys, this is a jam. It really starts what is a just aggressively sexual album. Now, the thing that I need you to acknowledge, Ed Shearin helped write this song.

I know. It's also like such an Ed Shearin song too. It's my favorite Ed Shearin song in the years. This is Ed Shearin. I mean, there's a lot of Ed Shearin on this record. But you're into, I am very surprised. It's the sort of like, you know, I used to be in 1D. Now I'm out free.

It's so cheesy. It's so cheesy. It's so cheesy, but I'm really into it. I just want to have fun and get rowdy. I just want to have fun and get rowdy. It also doesn't, the lyrics don't make any sense because it's like, now I'm free. But then he says he can't change the way that he used to be. So we have conflicting.

statements on our relationship with the past, whether it's something to escape or something that stays with us eternally. But again, I don't care. It's a very strange song. I mean, there's all kinds of things through the entire sort of lyrical content of this song that just blow my mind.

I kind of feel like I would have cut this song. Oh my gosh. No, you absolutely. Did you have some like Girls Night Out thing where it was like the soundtrack to an experience? No, but I'm going to. I'm going to this summer. I truly, this is your song of the summer? This remix like really passed me by in the moment. I'm pretty sure it passed a lot of people

by. Yeah. Yeah. It's a solid bob. It's been added to several of my playlists and it's going to be it's going to be in the rotation this summer. Oh my gosh. Can I give you one more? Can I, please? This was my sort of runner up, even though I actually. think it's probably a better song. So buried, buried down near the bottom on Icarus Falls is a Zane song

called Sour Diesel. Oh, you like Sour Diesel. Holy crap, I think is so good. It's like, it has these weird, just super sleazy Miami Vice guitars and it's really fun and kind of strange, but I really, really dig it. Well, it's okay. Look, on Icarus Falls, I think dusk till dawn is awesome. I love imprint.

And I even like Rainberry. I like Rainberry a lot. But we'll come back to the Zane stuff because I actually think in the Zane catalog, there's really a lot to like. I just can't believe that strip that, strip that down is your choice for best song. If you're going to pick a best Liam song, for me, it's familiar with Jay Balvin. It's fun. It's interesting.

Like, I really enjoy it. It's Akons Bonanza. Yeah, I mean, look, that's a fair criticism, okay? But look, a lot. Here's the thing about the Liam stuff, okay? LP1 is pretty. It feels like a lot of EDM crossover stuff

with a guy, a DJ who made a beat and a chord progression with a beat drop. It needs a vocalist. So he goes and finds somebody who's going to lay down like perfectly vanilla lyrics that get grafted on and it all sounds good, but it lacks some of the soul of a song

that is generated organically. Like, I don't, this album for me feels like a hastily assembled lasagna or like it was put together. It's like a stove for actually Stoufers lasagna is fucking awesome. But it feels like it was like put together by an assembly line like one layer at a time. Like the best casseroles, they've got to sit there and all the layers and components, you know, they sort of like integrate with each other. They sort of fuse into one thing and they got to integrate and blend.

Otherwise it just tastes like you spilled the contents of your fridge into a, dish and put it in the oven, right? I tend to be anti-casserol. Yeah, well, fine, but like this album is a casserole that got put together too quickly for me. It just doesn't feel, ah, it just doesn't feel like it's integrated and blended. But

there's some stuff on here that's not bad. And in particular, I think, when he either features on another track or has someone else feature with him, the stuff is way stronger. That's a real theme for a lot of, a lot of this is that you can tell

that look, all of these guys, their solo careers came out of them being in a band with three or four, depending on the time, other people. And they're good at working with other people. And sometimes they

can use other people to support them because I think a common theme is that going to be, is going to be a lot of the stuff that I think is particularly fun incorporates other people. Yeah. LP1 really clarified something to me that it for the purposes of of this very podcast every time when we were talking about one direction songs that you would point out well it sounds like this song and I would go

yeah I don't really care I think part of that there's a little bit of a and I will tread carefully here Nathan I think there's a little bit of an age thing going on where you were often talking about songs that like I didn't grow up with I know them but they weren't like they don't come attached to a moment in time when I first heard them for me. And there's actually something really fun about having what was for me a contemporary group, take those sounds and make them kind of new to me, new to my peers, at least. And what bothers you about this is they're stealing stuff you did grow up with? Yes.

Because stack it up. I don't want to be broke When a D-I-E Want to be living it up in VIP Trying to get in the club They want a CID Is same old love by Selena Gomez

Eat shit, Ed Shearin Sorry Ed. Hips don't lie I hope hips don't lie Or list it lie in where to be Is hips don't lie by Shikira Apparently I'm on tonight

And it's so... I had to like really take a good look in the mirror because I was I was listening to it and going like, this is that song. I'm so upset.

I'm just thinking like, okay, I guess Nathan had a point. Like Live Forever, what you did with cheat codes is kind of a fun song, but the beginning of it especially sounds a lot like

first date by Blink 182. Get it. Fated. Self-man. All of this. I didn't know I was waiting for you. Let's go. Don't wait.

All of this was getting me in ways that very few of the One Direction comps like really great at me. Yeah. Do you think that that's a clap back at Zane just by titling it Live Forever? Maybe. It's like I want to live for it.

I don't know. There's a little shade in there for sure. Is there anything else on that Liam album that you think? I like. I mean, Midnight isn't on the album, but it's a single that he put out with Alessa. I really like that song. I like that song. I don't like it anywhere near as much as for you.

I think the guitar is on for you really make it for me. And they sound great. Okay. Well, we haven't talked about any Louis song being in the running for either of these two things. And I want to challenge a little bit on that because I do think that, like, The Louis songs, it took him a while to get an album together, right? Yep. And he put out a couple of songs that to me felt like he was rebelling.

He does the Just Hold On song with Steve Aoki, which to me is like meh, although it was relatively big hit for him. Yep. Then he does just like you. which is totally the, I'm out of 1D song. I mean, he literally has a, it's the guy from the one band, cigarette in my left hand, whole world in my right hand. It's the guy from the one band,

cigarette in my left hand, whole world in my right hand. That song, it feels like he just needed to, you know, like when you get really angry about something and you write an email or a text or a tweet and you're like, fuck, I just can't say, I got to get this out. and you just need to scream inside your heart

instead of at someone. This is Louis screaming inside his heart. And then he does miss you. Maybe I miss you. Which is also kind of a little bit of like, I'm trying to be a bad boy. I'm trying to get the bad boy award. And then he puts out walls.

I watch the mall come falling down. I watch the mall come falling down. Three years later, basically, which sounds nothing like those singles at all. You wouldn't have really seen it coming. Can I just say that I had a real moment with Miss You in 2017 or whatever? You did. Yeah. I don't, I can't really tell you why.

I don't think it's a great song. Everything is fucking great. Yeah. Maybe I was lying when I told you. Everything is great. Everything is fucking great. Maybe I miss you. It's like how many bad words can I throw in here?

All the smiles that I'm faking. Like that's, it's a little bit like your... One more Piner 5. Yeah. A mile on board with that. Oh, you know it. I mean, again, they're just a little bit of like, I'm Rebel bad boy stuff here that

then he gets out of the system and he thinks about it and he comes back with an album that I'm sure we'll talk about in Walls. But is there a best Louis song for you? you? I mean, this is the problem. I actually had trouble picking a favorite off walls, even though I really like walls. I like walls a lot, too. I do not have trouble picking a favorite off walls. My favorite off walls is walls. And it's an oasis song.

I am a huge fan of oasis. I mean, it's literally Noel Gallagher wrote it. He gets a writing credit. Yes. I'm into it. Not only did he lift one Oasis song, he lifted three Oasis songs. I mean, let's be honest. Walls is lovely, but if we wanted to know

what Love Child between Oasis and One Direction would sound like, this is their Brit Pop baby, right? Yes, but Nathan, I do want to know what that love child sounds like. Well, then look no further than Walls because... And Louis allowed me to hear it, and I like it. I like it very much.

Louis is doing his best, Gallagher impersonation vocally on this thing. Like it, I'm with you, I like it. It's interesting. It also makes me wonder if Louis is like Linda Perry or something.

Like Linda Perry, you know, she was in Four Non Blondes and she had the hit song, but the vocal wasn't quite there. And then she turned out behind the scenes to be one of the best pop songwriters of a generation. And I sort of feel that way about Louis

when you listen to walls, you can hear all of the great things from one direction, right? You can hear in Always You, the chorus there, should have never let you go. Oh, oh, that's one direction. And it starts to become apparent

just how much he was shaping it. And I don't think that the other writers were making that up or sort of overly, you know, giving him more credit than he deserved. I love hearing the bits and the roots of one direction here. I just, you know, where he goes from here is going to be very interesting because even on that album,

it feels like he has to, in moments, he has to disguise his voice to sound like some of his heroes because he still hasn't fully found, just vocally, his voice. He certainly is found it as a songwriter, but just from a tone and technique standpoint, it still sounds like he's searching. Yeah, no, I'm with you. And I think sometimes on walls, you can hear songs as, oh, well, like, is how much is he growing? Because some of these songs sound like One Direction songs. I mean, I think defenseless is just like, I can hear One Direction singing that song. Is that why I like defenseless so much?

You just keep home building up your fences, but I've never been so defenseless. Probably. But when you reframe it and remember that this is the person who got more writing credits throughout the One Direction discography than any other band member. It's kind of like, does this sound like a One Direction song? Or is it just because One Direction song sounded a lot like Louis songs.

Maybe we didn't realize it while it was happening, but it was true. I really liked the song he did with Baby Rexa. Back to you. Well, so here's the funny thing about it, is that that song is kind of a remake of Miss You. Very different production, but there's some structural stuff of what it sounds like that seems like they were kind of like, well, let's try this again.

I should be laughing shit. Maybe I miss you. I mean, who could blame you? There's some things on walls that sound like, let's try this again from some 1D stuff. But that's okay. You just told me, that's okay. We have to just live with it. I'm living with it.

I like that song, too. Yeah. I think it's super strong. And I do want to come back on Best Song, though, because there's some things on the Zane albums. Like, I hate that he called that album, Nobody is Listening, because it was like the worst cell phone ever. That's exactly what happened. But tightrope is amazing. Tightrope is one of my favorite songs in his whole catalog. And Icarus, by the way, had 27 songs. So there's a lot to choose from with Zane. I love she. She from from Mind of Mynd.

mine is terrific. I also like, it's you. It's like achingly beautiful. Yes. I love that song. I am a sucker for that song. And it's funny because I think we give Zane and should a lot of credit, especially on mind of mine for how good of a statement affirming his decision to leave the band it was because it was music he could not have made as part of one direction. And it was really good. However, there are a few moments where, first of all, he continually surprises me by how much he uses guitars. Okay. Like, twice a Zane album, there's a song with a lot of guitars on it, and it's just like it comes out of nowhere. And usually I like those songs.

Yeah. And then also when he's super croony, there's a little... Fool for you or whatever? Yeah, stuff like that. There's a little bit of the boy band legacy there that. I think is cool. He might not like it, but I like it. Yeah. Okay. Well, again, I think when he features, he's awesome. I said Rainbury before, that's not a feature song. It does feel like if you want me to stay by Sly and the Family

Stone, but that song is kind of badass. But then if I'm about to go, I'm going to stay. I got to be me. Totally. I mean, you didn't put the Aladdin song in the, in the pot? I like it. I'm into it. It just, it just didn't exactly send you over the edge. I also really like Let Me.

Okay. I just, I have trouble with the first line. Sweet baby our sex has meaning. It just, I can't get past it. That's fair. There's a little bit like, you know, that doesn't sound. This album, I mean, we should talk about this album. The first one felt effortless and flowing and free

and all that ethereal sonic goodness felt authentic and natural. And here it just feels forced. It feels like at times on Icarus Falls that he's trying really hard. Well, and clearly he wants. trying really, really hard because first of all, this album is an hour and a half long. 27 songs. It is way too long. It is 27 songs long. And it got delayed over and over and over again, apparently because he was, first of all, just writing a lot, but also going back and forth

over what was going to be on the album and what wasn't. So there's a real sense that they were at certain points sort of trying to squeeze water from a stone here. And let's talk about what we would cut for a second, or at least let me make this case, which is part of my what we would cut. There is a really good album on Icarus Falls. If it had been built around, I would argue, let me... For the rest of my life. There you are. Sour Diesel.

Entertainer. Good years for another ballad situation. I'd rather be anywhere, anywhere but here. Rainberry. I like fingers a lot. And then the collaborations. I like flight of the stars. Okay.

Okay. There's just, it gets lost because this album is twice as long as it should be. And there's just a real glut of mid-tempo vibeiness at the top that I really wish somebody had gotten through to him and said this is a

bad choice. There were lots of bad choices here and you are exactly right. I mean my what would we cut? We'd cut a lot of this stuff. It's too much content. it's just too much content I mean in the run up to this he put out a Beyonce cover and myself

and that's all I got in the end that's what I found out and he's putting out all these singles and all these things it's too much content this is the lesson of Taylor Swift Nora she figured out

that when she dropped the re-release of fearless that it ate up everything that ever more could have been And guess what? The streaming numbers showed it. So when everybody's like, well, why is she so quiet? Why is she going away? Well, because this is exactly what she did between the release of Fearless and Red. When she had a full lead-up and a campaign that was focused on and put out Red as its own distinct thing, bang, the streaming numbers were huge and it crushed the old version of Red. And Red Taylor's version is killing it. That's the same lesson here. You can't put out just too much shit because it all steps on everything. and then you don't get a moment if, as you rightly pointed out, there isn't the hit.

When your stuff is 27 songs of vibes, it's not going to resonate as much as a 10-song sort of concrete thing could be. Mind of mine, he got away with it because it was new and fresh. This one didn't work. And it wasn't 27 songs.

Right. Right. And particularly, it's 27 songs long, and I would, I think the, the glut of filler stuff that isn't as compelling tends to be on the front half of the album. Oh yeah, natural. And other than, go away. Totally.

Feel so natural, natural. Where we come together. Totally. I don't, don't you know you're fucking beautiful. Didn't, haven't we touched on this exact thing before in, I don't know, a one direction song? I mean, maybe he kind of needed it at. maybe it's a little bit of therapy of I didn't get to live out my musical ideals when we did those songs. So I'm in a sense going to do my versions now. But look, it's a tough business. And

sometimes you've got to squash those impulses. And because a lot of those, like, there were six singles as part of the rollout for that album. And Let Me was the only one that even sniffed making an impact. So by the time the album's actually there, it just kind of thudded. There's good stuff in here. You're right. It's a bummer because there's really good stuff there. There's good stuff. But like, why are we putting out me, myself and I on Twitter? Like, can we put out an acoustic cover of one of the songs? I don't know. It doesn't, it doesn't make sense to me. And it feels like, you know, on the one hand, in the TikTokization of music that's happening, during this time means albums are less important than ever. And you can get away with releasing

individual songs. People are consuming music in smaller bites. And so some of the, hey, let's just put out a single and go, put out a single and go. It kind of maybe worked a little bit for Liam. It kind of maybe worked a little bit for Louis. For Zane, there's just so much. And the saddest part about it is, this man is an artist. I mean, he really is of all of them. I feel like this is, he's the tortured soul. He expresses it through his art. He is, he expresses it through his body. He expresses it through, you know, his visual art as well.

It just feels like he left the band and did not have the best direction, if you'll pardon the pun, around how to manage the career. And he maybe rebelled so much against the notion of touring, against the notion of touring, against the notion of a concise album, as you said, against the notion of a hit that it undermines what is really interesting and compelling art. Yeah, and just of promotion, right? Because I think he, even he did not do a lot of press. There's the, he does an interview at the fader before at Griss Falls comes out, comes out where it's, it's really close to the end of the album cycle. and the way that it's written is that they just sort of randomly call up this reporter

and say, hey, Zane wants to do an interview now. Right. As part of it, he talks about his distaste for a traditional promotional cycle and says that he's not into it. He thinks it's sort of phony and he would much rather people hear about his stuff by word of mouth.

Well, that's awesome. But if it doesn't work, then you're out of options. Yeah. And it seems like he got the harsh end of that dynamic a little bit. The one thing, I was going to talk about this when we got to peak Zame, but there is something that kind of fascinates me where it seems like the one place where he's really willing to kind of go

big blockbustery is music videos. Like the Dusk Till Dawn music video is just like crazy. Hey, mad at you, bro? Your name is mud on the streets. Oh, I've known. who you are. You don't know me. It's a very fascinating

exception to the rule there where like the Still Got Time music video has a monkey and an alligator and the animal people got upset about it. It was like to steal my girl video. Same thing. Like, hey, we got a whole petting zoo in this video. But it's always like he's always doing these just

clearly big budget music videos that always, he's always like either a bad guy or a superhero. or he's in danger and there's a woman and there's a briefcase and they're going to blow something up and then drive away in a car. Yeah. But it interests me that that is the visual artistry is interesting to him, I think. And so that's what he seems to invest in.

I mean, well, so I think we're in violent agreement around what we'd cut from Zane. Are there things that you would cut from Liam? Oh, boy, are there things that I would cut from Liam? Look, we know I love Liam It's all the solo stuff No It's the not

I mean it's the stuff Where he's not collaborating No no This man has done Two Christmas songs That are crimes Against Humanity Oh come on

We have to get Liam out of Christmas Look I agree I mean look I think Nottie List is just Good God It's really, really not acceptable.

Is it a Christmas song? That's my question for you. Yes. I mean, if you say that's a Christmas song, then Evermore is definitely a Christmas album. Okay, no, it references Santa. Santa saw the things we did and put us on the naughty list. Ew!

Liam! He needs a vasecta. me for Christmas. Also, like, this song was with Dixie Demilia. Like, what are we doing? And it gets weirdly tied to the album because the album comes out in December and it becomes quasi-emblematic of it. The other Christmas song is not good either. And it's particularly not good because it's called All I Want for Christmas. You can't make a Christmas song called All I Want for Christmas and have it suck, Leo. These guys will never learn It just doesn't

I don't know I agree that that should be cut That's fine If you want to cut that I love Liam But I just want him to leave Christmas alone Look It takes a lot for you to throw stones

At your guy And I'm proud of you For being At least wise enough And eyes wide open enough To cut that stuff I mean what about Louis Liam?

Liam I just I think this stuff I just, look, no one loves being in the club more than Liam. I just don't want to hear about it. So weird. Over and over again. It's enough already. You know I love it when the music's love, but come and strip that down for me.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think that's fair. I think I'm more receptive to it because I have so little interest in being in the club myself. that hearing about it through Liam is like the closest that I'm going to get. It's just a little Justin Timberlake light

for me. That's fair. That's fair. Jimber Timberlake. For Louis, kill my mind, which is the first track on walls. Hmm.

You kill my mind. Is not my preference. And I would cut it for the specific reason that I just do not think, his voice sounds very good on that song. I don't think that the production does an effective job of supporting him. And it's unfortunate to me because I do really like Walls and I think Walls has a lot to offer. And I don't think that that was like a great note to start it on.

Hmm. Okay. I like the song. I don't mind the album. I mean, I, if you're going to cut something, it's got to be just like you. I just, that song is terrible. It's Louis Tomlinson singing, I feel the same as you do, same stress, same shit to go through. I'm just like you, if you only knew. I mean, it really is a therapy song, isn't it? It's going through a lot. It's just, it's not very good, but I just wish he'd scream that one and do his heart again. Doing a lot of screaming into our hearts today.

Why not? Collaborators, most important. you tell me well for zane i think it's giji hadeed oh i mean i think that the arc of that relationship is reflected very deeply in his music and lyrically it's twisted and tied around her and you know sonically it feels like sort of the ebb and flow of the relationship and you know there's there's some very dark stuff that has come out of late from from that relationship. But I think so much of his solo career seems to be around this, I don't know, the pedestal pudding of these two beautiful people who behind the scenes

clearly are a lot more than that. So, I mean, look, James Ho did mind of mine and he really, I think, crafted that album to be something beautiful. But for me, it's Gigi Hadid. Yeah, so he was my pick. I like yours. Can I tell you something that I learned about as I was scouring the internet with things to talk about on this pod? Okay.

Gigi and Zane, along with some troubling personal interactions, really bad history of real estate transactions. What? I think they're both going to be fine. Do you mean their Bucks County Farm? Well, so I think, but that still is a thing. I think so. She hasn't? Just a lot of taking a lot of houses.

I don't think on purpose, but they bought a place, or Zane bought a place near her place in New York, sold it kind of a loss. Same thing with some place in L.A. I think they're both going to be fine, but tough scene. Not real estate investors. Yeah, just not great choices. You can't be all things to all people. I suppose, but like Manhattan real estate doesn't tend to... Yeah, it's hard to lose money on that.

I mean, maybe during the pandemic. But... Zane and Jared Kushner. Yeah. All right. What about Liam? Well, so I like your... I like your call.

I had gone with James Ho for Zayr just because I think that his work, both as a co-writer and as a producer was clearly really meaningful on both mind of mine and Icarus Falls. And also just the fact that he had most notably worked with Frank Ocean on Channel Orange and had won a Grammy. You can hear that sonic influence all over Zane's stuff. And I think there was a real legitimacy

that came from that partnership too. They also kind of bromanced it up in terms of how they talked about each other, even though Zane said that he was weird, but weird in a good way, which is kind of how we talk about each other. So, you know. It seems to work. You're avoiding talking about Liam's most important collaborator because you don't want to admit it. But it seems like you have something up your sleeve, so I want to hear it. I don't.

You know what it is. It's your boy. It's Ed Sheeran and not in a good way. But it is the most important collaborator. It's Ed Shearin. I think it went well. Why can't he quit him? I think they just like hanging out. I just would have thought it was Nile and Ed, but I guess the love rambus got in the way. Yeah, the love rambus got in the way. I really do like the collaborations that Liam does. He does one with Len and Stella called Polaroid. Yeah, I like that song. She is a star. You should hear her cover of every time you go away with Kevin Garrett.

It is just devastatingly gorgeous. She's a, I was very happy to discover that collaboration between the two hours. I'm wholeheartedly with you. I think Liam is, maybe his destiny is big paino, you know? His destiny is to do remixes and be featured and have others feature with him

as opposed to sort of being like the home run solo artist. I think he has made enough that matters. I mean, he's participated in some pretty big songs. I'm just not in time. I think that collaboration is really where he is at his best. Louis's most important collaborator, you know who it is. It's Noel Gallagher. I mean, Noel gets a writing credit on walls.

They lifted parts of acquiesce. They lifted Stop Crying Your Heart Out. they lifted cast no shadow and the rest of the album basically features the voice of the Gallagher's in the microphone that Liam is singing into or that Louis is singing into. It's fine. It's totally fine.

But I do think that, like, to not even joke about it, it's very clear that this band had a massive impact on Louis. And it makes me think sort of retroactively about what we heard in the last 3-1D albums and how much, of that was rooted in Oasis songs. And of course, like you and I could go through a million Oasis songs and be like,

it's the fucking Beatles. Let me show you all the Beatles songs that they stole from. Yeah, but here's the thing is that Oasis also ended in some ways too soon and in some ways absolutely soon enough. Because there wasn't a homicide committed between the members. Yeah, because they were an absolute train wreck. However, there were Oasis songs still like. to be written, if only they could have had completely different personalities and done way

less drugs. So if the only way that we can get the unfinished business of Oasis is as channeled through Louis Tomlinson, then that's fine with me. I agree. I do sort of wish that all of the passive aggressiveness that comes out with Louis and Liam and Zane post 1D, where they sort of slip in a the lyric here there. The Oasis guys just fucking punch these other in the face. Like they just mauled out and they recorded it. Like you can hear great recordings of them just fucking hating on each other. It's not about you though, is it? We'll let's go back to that.

It's the music. You want to be. Music. Music. Music. Music. Music. Music.

Music. Music. There's something cathartic about that potentially. I don't know. Anyway. I do think that Louis, uh, because if it's not an old Gallagher, to be honest, I think it's, like, Louis is his best collaborate.

Like, he really shines here and shows you what was rumored. We've already given him his flowers. But he gets very little credit for what he did in one direction because his name is amongst six, seven other guys on every single song. And here, he just shows, I think, that he really was the crafter of many of the choruses and hooks and melodies that we grew to love through the course of this journey. I think you're right. I also have to, look, the matter of degree is much more slight with Louis than with the Gallagher brothers. But we know that Louis struggles at times to hold his tongue.

So I kind of get that partnership on some level. He does. Good thing he didn't fight with another band. It's time for peaks, Nora. Okay. Let's do something. and peaks. Where do you want to start? Let's start with Peek Zayne. Okay. You want to tell me? For me, it's the January 2021 Gigi Hadid Instagram

birthday post where they look incredible and they have Kai, their beautiful child, and they're both smoking. And it's Peak Zane because there's always a little poop in the punch bowl with Zane.

It's like it should be perfect, But there's always like just a total shot in the foot, like a cell phone. It's like, why? Of course that's the dumbest thing ever for both of you to post. You're going to get shredded. It doesn't look cool. The fan base is not going to be. Like, what are we doing?

And then otherwise, wow, they're together. Look at their baby. They look great. They're, it just was a mess. And that to me is kind of the story of this post 1D career where there's so much. beauty and cool and artistry there. And then it's like, God, did nobody sit there and go, don't post Gigi Hadid hitting a vape with her baby in the arms?

It's a perfect choice. You really can't get through a Zane interview or profile, a few of them as there are, without some reference to him smoking. And it's always just this like, I get it. clearly there's there's tension with the handlers and the PR people where he's not necessarily the most cooperative or responsive but like no one is successfully either him or anyone who works

with him being like hey this is a bad idea yeah he's not the moral bro, he's not like I don't know what like it's not it doesn't need to be his personal brand right? You're a singer. Anyway. Mine was kind of a tie between just the fact that he does like, he absolutely abhors doing publicity, which leads into, I chose the nobody is listening album cover. Oh, the cover?

Or the title? Well, so sort of both. There's like a real Zane juxtaposition in the cover and the title. Talk to me. is this just, I think it's a bad choice. It's this total self-owned. It's sort of unnecessarily whiny about everybody around him doesn't want him to succeed and they don't get him hashtag real music and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

Meanwhile, he does the album artwork himself. Right. He's like really taking, it's sort of like painstaking and he has an idea and he puts work into it and he's exploring what he wants to do as a visual artist. incorporating that into the album cycle. And it's really, really cool. He will never be the mind of mind cover because little baby Zane is just like so adorable.

I want to pinch his cheeks. Baby Zane with the cats. It's still really cool. And there's something very frustrating about this guy who has so much to offer who just can't quite get out of his way. It's the poop and the punch bowl. It is again the poop and the punch bowl.

And just for context, I might have said this at the top. But, um, after all of the success of pillow talk and mind of mine, Icarus Falls ended up peaking at number 61, and then nobody is listening ended up peaking in number 44. So, like, this is a pretty precipitous drop into the punch bowl.

Sorry for that image. It is. And you can't help but believe that what's going on in his personal life is contributing to it. And to be clear, these albums came out. before the, you know, alleged domestic incident with Gigi's mother. And so there was enough happening in the management of his career,

the way he was presenting himself. Look, I also just will say, like, he uses the word fuck a lot in the music. And like my, you know, like 17, 15, 14 year old girls who grew up with one direction, it's a little much. Yeah, Zain also has said some dumb things in interviews.

He, like, went on a tangent about really liking curvier women that just came off really strangely in one interview. Maybe this is why he doesn't do a lot of press. That was really not well advised. He just didn't port the fan base. over in the same way, right? Nile did a really good job of porting the fan base over. There's a lot of resentment that's pretty clearly coming from Zane. And I think a good amount of it is justified. Some of it is probably not as well justified. And even some of the, the tricky thing is that some of the parts of it that are probably justified are also not great for business and are not

going to help him get his album heard. And, like, his, His album was number one. His first album, it was there. He had it. Yeah, he totally had it. It's what came next. I mean, the audience was ready to embrace it. But I do think, like, it's really hard for a 14-year-old girl to connect with some of the lyrics of these songs. Yeah, and I mean, even sometimes if you're not a 14-year-old girl, it's just a little too much. It's just sort of, it gets in the way. Because when we talk about the things that we really love, in these songs. It's artistry and beautiful singing and interesting melodies and cool instrumentation, some of which

is really surprising. None of it is like, oh cool, Zane, you're talking about boning. No, this is music for people who were not fans of one direction. Right. And that's what made it difficult to continue and then when you flood the market, when you basically flood the zone with 27 songs on an

album plus a bunch of other stuff, it's just, it's overwhelming. And as you say, it becomes this sort of amorphous thing that doesn't create an episodic moment of urgency where fans rush out and you build on that buzz in this moment of, I mean, that was the lesson of one direction, is that when you create a moment. You have so many fans that they will break the gosh dang internet to get access to something that you're putting out.

If you can build up that urgency, they would do it in and on sale. It's what would be maddening, running ticket master, having the whole thing fall apart because one direction is going on tour. It's the same thing that happened as they would shoot to the top of the iTunes chart.

It's the same thing that would happen as they'd put videos on YouTube. So he just didn't follow that formula. And it really is more of a business decision than an artistic one. That said, at this point in time, it's hard to see. I'm not saying it's not going to happen, but it's hard to think about where he goes from here as an artist. You've got a label that's dropped him. You've got some very, very concerning charges that sort of got put aside, I guess, for now.

but there's a tough thing to come back from in this career. I hope it does because I still believe that this man is the most interesting artist that came out of that band. Yeah, I think the likelihood is that there's probably not going to be all that much that's artistically interesting or gets to the peak of what he's capable of before the personal stuff gets in order.

and that's the right order of operations for those things. Right. Then, you know, maybe you wonder the three songs that he put out were definitely more sort of hip hop, like pure hip hop relative to some of the more R&B influences on the album. So maybe that's the direction that he goes in. But you also figure that, or at least I also figure that some time off would probably be warranted. and maybe he'll have different ideas after that point. Yeah. Look, thanks for a whole new world.

Thanks for trampoline, which I really like. Thanks for working with Ingrid Michelson. Like all those things he sounds really good on for his own stuff. I think you're right. Some space could probably do him good. If I was his manager, that's probably what I would tell him. But that's not what I would tell Louis. What's your peak, Louis?

Oh, well, so my peak louis was just going to be talking about walls, which we kind of already have done. But I just really wanted to use that space to give walls it's due. That said, I had come into this, you know, I liked walls. I had not spent a ton of time with it super recently. So I was excited to go back and listen to it. Still think there's a lot to offer there. I was pretty surprised going back and seeing that it had debuted at number nine and it had actually kind of done okay.

Have people heard this record? No. They haven't. But if you look at his touring schedule now, he's playing theaters, the YouTube theater here in L.A. He's playing places that like Boni Vare is going around playing. He's playing some real theaters in Europe. So I just don't think they've seen him. that much. And you look at that set list, he's playing a couple one direction songs, and he's playing

this album. So he's getting out there. Now, what's interesting is, so he's left Simon Cowell's record label. And he's on to, you know, a new place now. And so he's already working on his next album. He, not unlike Nile, got kind of stuck in no man's land with the pandemic. He puts this album out and then he can't go back it up with a tour. It's hard. It gets sort of washed away. But, man, do not mess with the Lairies, because that fan base of his is strong and loyal and going nowhere. And there is, is a little bit of ongoing buzz about Louis. If he can write another album, there's something there. Yeah. So I guess that's sort of what I'm, what I was saying, taking note of the album performance, which was not, obviously not incredible. And it does feel like this is sort of an underrated thing

that not a lot of people heard. But there's a really, there's an ember of a really viable, not like Harry Styles level career, but something that's, that seems kind of sustainable in a way that I would call an upset. And it's, it's cool to,

it's cool to see him now getting out there and having that type of success and being able to see the fans and do all of that again. Because we're, there is enthusiasm for Louis, there is really strong enthusiasm for Louis. Yep. It's not going away.

Liam, I mean, good God, the sex. It's insane. Strip that down is ridiculous. So put your hands on my body and swing that ground for me, just writing a song called hip. Yeah, writing a song called Hips Don't Lies. is ridiculous. You don't even need

to speed I'll be in ston line I'm a threesome Root Hours is insane I'm your back and run the top

on me feel crazy about you I mean it's absolutely insane both ways is about a threesome Flipin their body go head I go tails sharing their body

like it's all that smell one in the two and three And as you said, even his Christmas song is out of control. I mean, root hours is nasty. I don't know if I really want to talk about it. He used to be so responsible. He's your guy. I mean, he's just off the rails.

Meet me in the parking lot. Might be a bad idea. I'll probably do your ass in the car. Meet me in the parking lot. Yeah. Might be a bad idea. I probably do your ass in the car. That's the first three lines of that song.

It's not acceptable. It seems to be very acceptable because there's a lot of people who are participating in this. This is not a song about a person. There are an album about a person. These songs are about lots of people. Yeah, I don't know really what happened with Liam.

Oh, you know what happened. Well, sure. But like somewhere around the year 2016, this was my peak, Liam. He decides he no longer smiles and photos. Like any photograph of Liam Payne from the year 2016 onwards, he's like Kanye. He's doing blue steel. Yeah.

Like he is just doing blue steel. He's looking you dead in the eye and saying, hope your hips don't lie unless they're right in my bed. Unless they're right in my bed. Weird, Liam. I don't know, man. As a Liam's dad, it's. concerning.

Concerning. We're six years into this shit. This is, it's Coke and Bacardi, sipping lightly, mind you. It's not great. Also, whatever the heck happened after the Oscars after party with the changing accent. Like, get it together, man.

I also felt there were three losers in one fight. He didn't know, being Chris Rock. He didn't want to do what he had to do, being Will Smith. And she did nothing. Being Jada. And it's a very He's a piece of work. There's no doubt. Speaking of pieces of work, Nora, we slightly altered a category for this all-encompassing basket

of a podcast. Are any of these songs in collaboration with Taylor Swift? Yes. Yes, indeed, Nathan. Zane and Taylor collaborated on I Don't Want to Live Forever. Also, for a different 50 Shades soundtrack. Maybe that was their most important collaborator Was just the 50 Shades franchise When did you go see this movie

The first time? Valentine's Day. Oh, you love that movie. I did see a movie on Valentine's Day. You love that movie. Made a nice time. It's a real song. I mean, it goes to number two.

It's a great song. I love this song. Do you think it's, but is it as good as it performed? Like, do you put it on? I haven't put it on in a while. When you roll a Taylor playlist, would you throw it on? I mean, I just wonder if this was almost like the Pillow Talk video

and that it's like two stars together. Like you can't look away. It's just too bright. You have to, it's like Trump looking at the eclipse. It's like, God, that's so fucking stupid. But you know what? I've kind of looked in an eclipse before too. I think there's really good Taylor.

on that song. I think that I've been looking sad in all the nicest places is like very Taylor. It very much works. I'm very into it. So I think we get not the best of her, but we get like real varsity level Taylor Swift on that song. We don't have cottage core like braided Taylor Swift on that song. No. It's kind of the last before she migrates into that anyway. Yeah. No. It's it's much more slick than that. Zane is good. This is like another example, though, of like Zane just not being able to

do the thing that was going to help him the most. Okay. He does not kiss the ring. No. When they talk about this song, he's like, we didn't meet each other. I did it separately in the studio.

She's very successful. She's friends with my girlfriend. Okay. All right, then. Where to sell it. Sign me up. Feels like this was a real... I believe the sexual tension

in the vocals then in this song. Right, totally. I'm so sorry that this incredibly successful song burdened you thusly. She has such an interesting relationship with each of the members of this band, doesn't she?

It is really true. She brings out Nile on tour down the catwalk. Lennon, would you be excited if I told you that Nile or it is And, like, they have that awkward moment where, like, she's going after him dancing and he's just, like, running away. He just does not want anyone to think that maybe there's something happening. He's like, I'm still friends with Harry's ex-girlfriend, but I'm definitely not trying to make out with her right now.

That whole thing is hilarious. She and Liam played together on the jingle ball tour as she gave him, like, a handwritten note and a gift basket of reputation stuff, which is like, oh, thanks, Taylor. Not really, no. She actually sent me a lovely little hamper of a new reputation gear and said in the last show that we did, a little note, which is really, she's got very good handwriting. Like, that's not really what Liam wants, but fine. Louis, like, is always shouting out to her.

Like, she's got real love for each of the members of this band. Well, TBD on one out of five, but sure. At one point. They chatted at the Grammys. We've covered this. I'm just not so sure. But yeah, I love that song. I just think it works.

I just think it's like a good vibe. Yeah. It kind of remains, even though I maintain that the 50 Shades series had a real moment. It is just wild to me what their music budget must have been.

Because it doesn't, somebody makes, a decision somewhere along the line where they were like, okay, well, we're going to make movies of the 50 Shades books. But a huge part of the selling point is that we're going to have like great soundtracks. I don't know. I'm worried if I dig too deep into the reasons why they chose to do that. I think it's because they knew they had a shitty movie relative to the book. And so they were going to try to make it as much of an event as possible. And they needed the music to make that happen. Well, kind of worked. Mission accomplished.

All right. We're going into lyrics now, aren't we? Let's do it. Do you want to go first? Do you want me to? No, you should sing the praises before I talk about the bad stuff. Okay. Well, what I really wanted to do with this category is give Louis the credit that I think he really deserves for writing two of us after his mom had passed.

Yes. So I will keep you day and night here until the day I die. I'll be living. One life for the two of us. Writing is what he does, first and foremost. Fundamentally, that is his superpower trait. And the song is really beautiful. It's extra beautiful if you sort of understand

how raw and emotional the context of it was. And I think he deserves a lot of flowers for having that be the track that I think got him kind of writing and got him into a groove where he felt like he could sort of access a lot of feelings. and use them to create the stuff that wound up on walls. But it's also just a beautiful song and a really sad but poignant storyline.

So that was my pick. Yeah, I, look, there are some pretty shitty lyrics in this canon. If you want to start with Louis, for me, I mean, you talked about Zane smoking. How about Louie and all the smoking references in the songs? ever since they gave him the line about the cigarette and night changes, he's just run with it. He talks about smoking in We Made It.

Wave into the hard time. Smoke something, drink something, yeah, just like the first time. He talks about smoking in just like you. It's the guy from the one band. Cigarette in my left hand. Whole water in my right hand. he talks about smoking in always you it goes on and on and on it's a thing for him

yeah maybe it's just like a little bit less of a thing in the UK it just keep it out of the songs boys I don't know no I feel the same way yeah I totally feel the same way although I guess we know from the the incident was saying that louis is not exactly good about not describing smoking things yeah that's fair not the best at it for Liam It's from Root Hours. I mean, I actually like the song, Rude Hours.

I actually think it's good. But there's this part, there's this moment where he says, like he's just being so nasty. And then he makes this quick stop for a public service announcement where he's like, let's be safe tonight

because we both been drinking. Now let's get back to, I'm going to probably do your ass in the parking. lot. Like, it's such a ridiculous, like, contrive, like, you know, nothing to see here. It's like, I don't know. I wish this song, the parts of this song, I just wish he'd rewrite because I actually love the melody and I love the music. But it's just so out of hand. And then to pretend that, like, oh, somebody A&R came in the room and was like, Liam, could we, could we, you know, can we just maybe add just a little disclaimer? Legal's a little concerned that you are

advocating for sex in all kinds of places. And do you think you could just put a disclaimer in there that maybe could keep us from getting sued? And he was like, fine. Because we've both been drinking. Let's be safe tonight. It's the worst part of all the boy band stuff where they look at the candy, like, girl,

trust me. You're safe with me. I can't even really acknowledge that song. It's my pearls are just a little bit. bit too clutched right now. It's too much. And I don't mean to do a lot of pearl clutching on this stuff, but I mean, it's like, it's heavy duty. It's a little bit. It's way too much. It should not exist. It should be, it should be blasted into the stratosphere along with. Just keep the melody, just keep the music. Totally. Totally. No, I agree with you. There's something on that sounds good,

but you have to like, like, when I watch TV that I think is scary, I watch it like with my hands over my eyes. Whatever the musical equivalent of that is, I need it for that song. It's way too much. Yeah, especially with Liam being your favorite. But there is that, it's a little overly aggressive. Like, the Zane song, She Don't Love Me?

I think I know she don't love me. That's why I fuck around. It's like, dude, we got to get this guy with a different therapist. No. That's not the order. That's not the sequence of how things happen. first you determine what the feelings are

and whether it's going to work and if the answer is no then not horse before cart it's horse after cart Zane I think this is a good

message oh boy there's some real winners across this entire catalog but I really think it must have been hard in hindsight

for the collaborators on one direction to keep some of the horniness contained because really when the gloves come off and these guys are in there I'm rebelling against 1D

they just are fully liberated it's fascinating to watch yeah I mean look Harry did it too right Only Nile. Nile is so chaste. Nile is like, can you believe what this woman said to me? The horondoggery. Nora, it's time.

Yeah, but there isn't any. Okay, it's time. It's great. It's time. We've been through it. We've managed to case the solo careers of three artists. And it's time for us to grade their solo careers. So I cheated and I went really piecemeal here. I cheated completely. Okay, good. I think that's actually kind of warranted just because these are not

and look like hand to heart we did this episode differently than the Harry and Nile episodes in part because the music is just not quite as near and dear to us and I think that

we should be honest about that. The other thing is that these are not album artists in the same way that Harry and Nile have been pretty successful in their careers as album artists. I mean, Zane has worked within the album format, although Icarus Falls,

I think is kind of like, changes the form a little bit just because of how long it is. Right. But these are kind of, there's like a piecemeal nature to the stuff that we're talking about here because it's all kind of like coming out at different times and we wanted to be able to include the singles and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. So I used that as an excuse to,

look at this and say that Zane has some A songs kind of a D trajectory and D sort of album rollouts Walls is like a sneaky B minus but that actually probably means that it's still underrated Okay LP one is kind of a C C for club, that's what I gave it. Yeah, C for club

C for in the club But there are a couple like solid B pluses in the Liam discography. And then the most shocking good grade is an A-minus to the 50 Shades soundtrack franchise.

They really won this podcast. They really won the pod. Unbelievable. I like that Ellie Goulding song too. You've said that. I mean, I... She channeled all the energy from being part of the love rambus.

I think... there's something about that I, it's interesting to me that you can handle the 50 shades of gray raunch, but you can't handle the Liam raunch. I think you're, I think you're seeking it in one and averse to it in the other.

Yeah. No, no, we need to get you with Zane's old therapist. I also got like properly intoxicated before Oh, well, so did Zane on almost every song according to him. Look, you're right. I'm completely with you. I mean, Zane for me,

I can't even give it a letter. It's just like a sigh. It's just like a, oh. It's just, it's an art. He's an artist and he's fascinating to watch for all the reasons that we talked about on this podcast. There's so much there.

And I just hope he finds a way to crystallize it and use it. Louis gets a, let's see. Because again, the larries are unshakable. And this tour's building momentum. And like you said, this album debuted at number nine. He's going to get a look or two. and he's rewired his career now to go after it with a second album.

I have a sense that he may be better as the songwriter and a contributor, and therefore maybe he needs to be sort of a collaborator. I feel the same way about Liam, but for different reasons. Liam, to me, has made some interesting stuff in his collaborations. He just seems a little bit Timberlake Light when he's out on his own, and I think he's able to channel his best stuff as Big Pano. So, you know, I still think that these three guys have very interesting work ahead of them. It's what they do from here.

That is a lovely note to end on. And we've still got some stuff to do it from here, don't we, Nathan? We got a lot to do. This has been every single album One Direction. As always, I'm Nora Preciati. He's Nathan Hubbard. We will be back on Monday, where we're going to. to wrap up a bunch of stuff that we've talked about throughout this entire series.

And we're going to have a really fun game. There's a game coming. And a surprise guest. A game and a surprise guest, Nathan. Watch to look forward to. Is it Nile? It's Nile. You can't promise the people Nile, Nathan.