Switched on Pop - Five Directions: How do the solo efforts of One Direction stack up?

Episode Date: February 4, 2020

The boy band One Direction has been on hiatus for nearly five years, yet only now have all of the members of the group released a solo album. But how do these efforts from Niall, Liam, Harry, Louis and Zayn stack up? Vox Writer (and One Direction fan) Alexa Lee compares albums as a challenge for each member to rise to their greatest artistic potential. SONGS DISCUSSED Zayn - Let Me Zayn - Entertainer Niall Horan - Nice To Meet You Niall Horan - Put A Little Love On Me Liam Payne - Strip That Down Liam Payne - Hips Don't Lie Louis Tomlinson - Walls Louis Tomlinson - Kill My Mind Harry Styles - Adore You Harry Styles - Watermelon Sugar Harry Styles - Cherry MORE Read Alexa’s piece “2 winners and 3 losers from One Direction’s solo albums” Listen to Nate convince Charlie to love One Direction in an early episode of Switched On Pop Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If you're tired of endless scrolling to figure out where to eat, same. I'm Stephanie Wu, editor-in-chief of Eater. We've just launched the new-ish and way better Eater app. It has all the restaurants we love, gives you personalized picks wherever you are, and serves up smarter search results just for you. You can find my list of the best places for martinis and fries in New York City. And save your favorite spots, share lists, follow editors, and book right in the app. the Eater app at Eaterapp.com. It's free for iOS users. Welcome to Switched on Pop. I'm songwriter Charlie Harding.

And I'm musicologist Nate Sloan. Years ago, Nate converted me into a One Direction fan. Yes. And now, as of late January 2020, it has been four years since they have gone on infinite hiatus. Also, every one direction member has finally released a solo album. And today, we're joined by Vox writer Alexa Lee, who undertook the unenviable task of assessing each former member's relative success. Welcome to the show. Hi, thank you so much for having me. You've written the article titled The Two Winners and Three Losers from One Directions solo albums, and we want to break those down with you today.

For those of us who are not as familiar with One Direction, fill us in. Who are the members of the group? What's their story? Sure. One Direction is composed of five members, Zane, Harry, Nile, Liam, and Louis. And they were formed in 2010 after they were all auditioning as individuals on a British singing competition called The X Factor. And Simon Cowell was like, you know what? I think that you would all be stronger as a group. And since then, they have been a unit as One Direction. One Direction is no longer together in 2015. Zane dropped out unexpectedly of the group and went on to do his own thing.

And a year later, the other members announced an indefinite hiatus to being part of the band. And currently everyone is working on solo music or other projects. And that's the reason we are here today. At this point, every One Direction member has released a solo album, which means we can take a sort of macroscopic view of how each of these artists has fared since that fateful breakup. So, Loxa, you've written the two winners. and three losers from One Directions solo albums. And it feels like it's time to, it's a sign of the times that we must review each young man's releases,

posts One Direction. I say it's an unenviable task because the One Direction fans are particularly loyal. And we'll get into that. But I think it's fair that we take a peek at each of their albums. We're going to listen to some of the music and look at how you have assessed them. we're going to start with Zane Malick and his record, most recent record, Icarus Falls.

It's 27 songs long. Who is Zane? What do we need to know about him? Who was he in the band? Who is he now? I think his reputation when he was in one direction was being like the quieter, more mysterious one. And I think in hindsight, we can track a lot of that to him just having the most stage fright, I guess, and also being the only member of in One Direction, I think a lot of that helped sort of propagate this idea that he was

mysterious and sort of a loner in the band. But he was also the only member to drop out of One Direction. He left the group one year before they announced their indefinite hiatus. Since then, he has dedicated his career to making R&B. That is, I guess we'll get into this in a second that is in my opinion very unsexy. You write that his album, Icarus Falls, is a boring, corny exploration of what happens when a too handsome man ensconces himself in Cologne and longing. And it doesn't get better. You say it's chalkful of weak lyrics and dull, forgettable beats that neither has playfulness

nor the sufficient melancholy to breed life into Zane's sensual aspirations. And the end result is underrewarding. Ooh, tough. Yeah, and I say that with a heavy heart as someone who is a big Zane fan. I know it's hard to believe reading the passage you just quoted me on, but I think that Zane is a great voice, and his first solo album was very good, in my opinion. I was very disappointed by the majority of Icarus Falls, which was also hard because it is almost 90 minutes long.

We'll go on the record as big fans of Pillow Talk. I think we should listen to a track from this record and also consider the danger of naming your album Icarus Falls after the Greek myth of flying too close to the sun. I don't know, let's see if that's borne out in the music. Where do we want to start first? Let's try the song, Let Me. Okay, before we get to Down and Dirty here,

I will say, Zane, as you pointed out, I think has a really lovely falsetto. We, on our show, had covered his song that he did with Taylor Swift. I don't want to live forever. You get a similar sort of vibe there. I do like the upper register of his voice. That's working for me.

What do you think, Nate? It's nice. His voice sounds good. Feels like a demo track that remains unfinished to me. Yeah. It has this like EDM drum build that kind of never drops right.

It's almost like an extra phrase and it kind of stumbles. And Alexa, what's your take? This is actually one of the songs that I think is. think is the better of the 27. Oh, no. Yeah.

I hate to break it to you. But I think his voice sounds very strong on this one. And I think that lyrically, this is Zane, just being honest about who he is. Like, the first line is... When I hear that, I imagine Zane at, like, a concert for the weekend. And he's just, like, taking notes on, like, how to write a very sultry song. I agree that this song. isn't perfect, but it's a winner

comparatively for me. You quote the writer Alison P. Davis who describes Zane as someone who sings about sex like it's this thing he just heard about on a Jodicey song. Yeah, that is withering and perhaps earned, but I think this song does get a sexy vibe because, like you said, it has this build

that never quite skets there, and that gives us a sense of kind of anticipation and, like, rising tension. And I think that is effective, coupled with the falsetto. This one is working, the high point of this 27 song, Magnum Opus, roughly the length of Beethoven's 9th Symphony. What's a low point of Icarus Falls? How about the song, Entertainer?

Alexa, what's up here? I think the problem for me with entertainer is the point that you guys brought up for Let Me, which is that there is always this rise in Zane's songs on this album, and you get the sense that It's moving somewhere. Like, Zane is being very clear. Like, he loves women and luxury, and it's going to be awesome, et cetera, et cetera. And then he just doesn't take that musically or lyrically any further. And it makes the song just end up feeling like a dead end for me.

Yeah. So we might say rather than Icarus has fallen, Icarus never took off. I have a real issue with the way he sings Entertainer here. Entertainer. It makes me really uncomfortable every time. Like, that's not how that word is pronounced. I don't like it. You have declared this album, unfortunately, one of the losers amongst the five.

So let's keep on moving. Let's go to Nile Huron's recent releases. What do we need to know about Nile? Okay. So I actually had a sort of reverse relationship with Nile to Zane where I was very dismissive of Nile during his time in the band. I thought that he was being carried by other members of the team. but upon One Directions hiatus and maybe the growing chaos that is post-2016,

I have come to appreciate Nile for just being like a normal dude. He just projects this energy that he's here to have a good time, he's not looking for trouble, the music he makes. In my article, I call it like palatable Ed Sheeran. I think it is friendly and approachable without roughing people the wrong way, the way, like, Ed Sheeran does for many different types of people. Let's listen to his newest singles. First, let's hear Nice to Meet You. What's working for you here?

This is a perfectly good song. It's neither super adrenaline pumped, nor is it boring. I can totally see this being played in, like, an anthropology as I search for a winter scented candle in my painting picture. I mean Nile is not flying too close to the sun. He's not trying to really go anywhere at all. He's content being

the every man and as you I think eloquently put it, there's something very comforting in that and even this song kind of has this 90s throwback kind of rock almost like a jock jam's kind of vibe. Yeah, I think that's probably coming from the fact that the

rhythm here is a quintessential drum and bass rhythm. Drum and bass is usually a much faster tempo, but he's sort of taking that rhythm and pulling it back. So it's like, this is party music, but we're slowing it down. We're, it's your average guy. I think Nate summed it up exactly where there's something kind of familiar and comforting about his music, but it's also feels new-ish. Like, nothing is too extreme. He's not flying too close to the sun. He's staying right in his lane. He's also put out a song called Put a little love on me. Let's take a listen.

Put a little love on me. So put a little love on me. Sweet piano ballad. Yeah. I like it. It feels good. I'm like literally smelling a anthropology candle now as I listen to this. Again, it's not maybe taking a lot of risks musically. It feels like something you may have heard before. But it's also doing it well.

Shouts out to Nile Horn. I totally agree. I don't think Nile's biggest strength is that he's a risk taker or musical innovator, but I think that the things that he does, he does well. This song, while more sincere and I guess more serious than the last song we played, I think is equally just chill and inoffensive and, yeah, perhaps for a Saturday at anthropology, but in that same store and vein. Moving right along, we've got Liam Payne coming up next. And as we've been establishing in a boy band, each person is filling a particular role. What role is Liam filling in the group?

Yeah. I think that Liam's greatest strength and sort of the biggest role he played as a member of One Direction was being like a jovial, like, entertainer in interviews and on stage. He is the one always like goofing around and getting the crowd going and excited. I think where he stands out the most is in his. his talent to be a people person, and that really comes through in his stage presence. For a long time, people thought he would sort of be one directions next, Justin Timberlake. On his record, LP1, he has a song, Strip That Down, which has a very strong JT sort of vibe. Yes.

You know I love it when the music stop, but come and strip that down for me, baby. Now, there's a lot of people in the crowd, but only you can dance to me. So put your hands on my body and swing that ground for me. Sway, you know I love it when the music's love, but come and strip that down for me. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And yet, Alexa, you call him less of a Justin Timberlake and more of a second-rate Bieber. What do you mean here? Okay, well, I'm so glad he played strip that down because to me it embodies all the things Liam is best at,

but also all the things he's worse at. Starting with the positive, this song is fun, it's very catchy. It, again, leans into the idea that Liam's just down to go out. She uses words, have fun, get rowdy. I just want to have fun and get rowdy. He got Cuevo to be on this song, which is frankly nothing short of a miracle. Quavo, she going to strip it down for a thug, yo.

Word around. It's a fun, she got to buzz you out. Five shots, then she ain't love now. I promise when we pull up, shut the club down. It's a fun, catchy song. But my issue with Leah really comes from, he just gives off this sleazy vibe that really can't be concealed in his music.

If you listen to LP1, there's a lot of references to ass. But it's not something I'm opposed to in all my music. It just seems really. I guess the part I'm looking for is crass and not in a way that I think Liam knows he sounds like

if that makes sense. Yeah, I mean, that seems like a very astute summation of this track. I dig it. It makes me move my body. It makes me get rowdy. I think one thing we both

really dug about this song is that there's a nice kind of musical, lyrical correlation in the chorus when we get the titular line. Strip that down for me. The music kind of strips down as well and becomes this sort of sparse, funky texture. I think that's very effective. I can see this song working really well on the dance floor.

It's so hard to make a song that is stripped back. Because earlier, when we were listening to Zane's songs, you described them Nate as almost like an unfinished demo, the sort of built kind of led to nowhere. And yet here we have a track on Liam's record that feels so sparse and yet also equally catchy. Making something where almost nothing is happening that you can't forget is very hard to do. And I think that the song is working in that way.

Alexa, you point to another song. You said he is incredibly bold to release a track with the title, Hips Don't Lie, of famous song, of course, made. by the artist Shakira. He takes his own spin on that title. The way you move aside to side, you don't even need a speed. I don't think anybody is going to debate. I don't think anybody is going to debate in my bed.

In my bed. Right in my bed. You can lie with me. I don't think anybody is going to debate the relative merits between Shakira's version. of hips don't lie and Liam's here but Alexa I am curious what's your take here what's going on this song just astounds me with how bad it is I um Liam is a very talented artist he is a very compelling performer and he toured and recorded for many years with some of like the biggest songwriters in the game right now and the fact that he after being a part of one direction

can convincingly sing the lyric like your hips can lie with me me just, I find it appalling. It doesn't track as particularly sincere. I also want to take this opportunity to announce my upcoming single, single ladies. I don't think that's, I'm pretty sure that's never been done before. So, yeah, look out for that one. Maria, you have a podcast now and you need to start acting like it. What's the first step as a podcaster?

Well, you have to ask lots of questions. I'm Maria Sharpova, and I'm hosting a new podcast. called Pretty Tough. Every week, I'm sitting down with trailblazing women at the top of their game to discuss ambition, work ethic, and the ups and downs that come on the path to achieving greatness. I have a few pretty tough questions for you. Okay. Ready?

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Okay, we are three-fifths of the way through here. Who's next on deck, Charlie? We got Louis Tomlinson. Good. Alexa Philison. What's the story of Louis? Louis always had a reputation of being like the least exciting member of One Direction. Oh, Louie.

Yeah, as he describes himself in a recent interview, like he was often thought as the forgettable one. It's unfortunate. You got the cute one, the sexy one, the jokester, and, oh, the forgettable one. Right. Wow, so that's sort of a self-admitted role. You're not assigning that to him. He acknowledges it as such.

Yeah, in a recent interview, he says something along the lines of, Nile is lovely, Zane's got the voice, dot, dot, dot, dot. and there's me. And it's just, it's rough. Yeah. Oh, really? Well, let's listen to his song, Walls, and see how it stands up. But these are walls that came up short.

Now I stand tall. All right. All right. I got some very strong oasis vibes going on. What do you think, Alexa? Yeah, this song reminds me of Huba Stank and Matchbox 20. It really brings me. back to nasally soft pop rock that was big in the early 2000s.

Yeah, this is another song where as much as it hurts me to perpetuate the idea that Louis is forgettable, I just don't think that this is a song I'll be returning to in a few months, or I don't think that it has really any standout memorable qualities. This is a departure from everything we've heard from the other members. it feels a little more intimate, a little more confessional. And I was surprised to learn something about Louis's life from your article. What might the sound of this album be reflecting that Tomlinson has been experiencing since the band broke up? Okay.

So Louis was the last member of One Direction to release a solo album, and that was largely in part to him taking some time away from music after the death of his mother and sister, which both happened in the last three years. That's incredibly tragic. So I think it makes sense that we're hearing a bit more of a confessional journal-like sound here. Yeah. Okay, Walls is moving me, especially with this kind of greater context of what's been going on in his world. Let's turn to another track.

What should we listen to next? Okay. I think that the next song we should get into is Kill My Mind. Yeah, Nate's not convinced. The rock vibe is interesting here. But the thing that doesn't stand out that should is the vocal, right? Like in a boy band, like you really want very powerful present vocals. And he feels a little buried in the mix here, subsumed by that rock vibe.

Yeah, I totally agree. I do appreciate the earnest element that's really clear in both the song and walls. But overall, it just doesn't stick with me. And I don't think that's just because this isn't the same genre as the other. solo One Direction members' music, I think that Louis just hasn't been able to convincingly, like, create a hook in his music that will leave a lasting impression. Yeah, I think you're right here. That song, I can't even sing the hook now after having just heard it. And that is one of the essential things that, you know, a major pop star has got

to do is write a song that is going to stick with you years after you've heard it. Which brings us to the final Harry Styles and his release, Fine Line. Harry is the most, many ways successful and famous of a group coming out of the band. You wrote that watching Harry Styles become the most popular post-one direction member is not unlike watching a long-awaited prophecy finally falling into place. So who was Harry and now who is Harry? I think it's really easy to see his status in the band as a prelude for his career now. Many people, both fans and people interviewing the group,

saw Harry as the standout leader, I guess. Not in the same, like, Justin Timberlakey way as Liam, but I think that people walked away with the sense that Harry was artistic and he was different and he was the one that was going to make it out of this band and really become a solo act. And that's exactly what he's done. Is there a track that captures the sort of world-conquering power of Harry Styles on this new record? For that, I would suggest we take a look at Adore You. I guess, to put it short, I love this song.

When stuff first started coming out about this album and Harry was doing more press, I was kind of like, I get it, Harry, you're not like the other boys, like you're so indie. And then his song dropped, and I just had to eat my words because I think it's so catchy when it plays. You instantly can tell who's singing it. Yeah, I think you hit the nail on the head. I mean, we've listened to five different singers, and for me, this is the first time where I really feel like I'm hearing someone's voice,

like in my ear, someone really singing and expressing themselves and their voice is out in the front of the mix, and it definitely has a lot of effects and autotune on it, but it has a presence and a directness that I haven't encountered in a lot of these other members so far. Yeah, and it feels like it's really balanced by the production, which for me that this music,

this is sort of like a slow, funk. This is strutting music. This is confident. It's really fun. There are some deep Toto vibes here. Oh my gosh. There are deep Toto vibes. Those like 80s electric guitar and synthy lines. Yeah, he's been like

grooving on some serious yacht rock in the last five years. For me, this song is entirely actually not just about the lead vocal which I love but those backing vocals, those big like, ah! Those moments. Many of these guys I feel like are actually sort of pointing to something in the

past, right? Whether it's like Oasis vibes, right, or like the drum and bassy thing. And here we have Harry, I think, trying to rub shoulders with some earlier grates in rock music to sort of claim some authentic, like, seriousness. Take me seriously as an adult performer. Yeah, the guitar solo probably adds to that too. Definitely. It's like, I'm legit, you know, look, there's a guitar solo. I think that those backing vocals, though, when you, when you have a big, kind of moment. Like that feels dated and yet also

it's just a really fun reference that it's enough in the past that like oh I'm glad to hear that again. Yeah. Okay, we're gushing. We're gushing. But can he keep it up? Let's hear another song

from this record. I have to say this is the worst lyric ever written that I love so much. You're not down with watermelon sugar, Charlie? I'm not going to go out on a limb

and try to guess what he's talking about here. but it's just like inane chorus, and yet the subtle rhythmic displacement and how he sings the final version. He was like, watermelon sugar, hi. Watermelon sugar, hi. That little change, I don't know, it hooks me in.

I think it's a reference to a Richard Brodigan. He was like a 60s beat poet, and he has a book called In Watermelon Sugar. Get out of here. Which feels like something Harry Stiles would be reading in his post One Direction. I figured it was like sex stuff. Oh really?

Because I was like, this is drug stuff. Oh, yeah. Right on. Alexa, any insights? Sex, drugs, beat poetry. No insights on that. I'm sure post One Direction, Harry Styles has read a plethora of beats writing. So that is probably a very big clue into watermelon sugar.

For this one, just really sums up something that sets this album overall apart from the other One Direction. members' albums, which is that it sounds human, like the pause and break between sugar and high at the end of the chorus and just like these engaging quirks in the song make it feel like Harry is being real and not performative in a way that Zane or Liam come across in their music. Okay, Harry's doing pretty well. We've only listened to two tracks from each artist, but let's throw one more in the mix, because I'm really curious if he can keep this up. I dig it. Let's listen to Harry Stein. Charles, Cherry.

Yeah, I'm just going to gush again. I think that this is a great song to me. It was very surprising to hear on this album. I think in his work on One Direction and also in his work on his first album, Harry Stiles sings a lot of ostensibly sad songs, but they never really sort of go that extra mile for me and sound like they're coming from personal experience or have an element or a sense that the melancholy really got to him. And I think that a sort of sincere emotionalness really comes through on this song.

And it almost makes Harry relatable. Yeah. I think what's working for me about the song is that so often when a major pop act decides to do their slow-down emotional acoustic song, they cover up for that bare quality with a plethora of autotune and other production that will make it sound frankly in contrast to what they're trying to achieve overproduced yet paired back and here that's not the case this feels like someone threw a microphone in a room and you're getting just something off the cuff it has that kind of a quality to it and i think that it's going for this more vulnerable quality it's succeeding. There's also some surprising sounds like that harmonica, that low, kind of low-pitched harmonica that kind of comes out of nowhere.

We can't even put our finger on what these string instruments are exactly. It's like maybe a guitar with a high-up capo or like... A mandolin. I don't know what the sound is. Anyone out there who knows what string instrument, let us know. We've had Adore You, which starts with a reference to strawberries, watermelon sugar, and now cherry.

There's also a song called Kiwi on this record. You mean on the last record, but either way, he's a fruititarian. There's a serious fruit fetish going on here, which I won't, again, I won't begin to parse. Okay, we should probably stop loving on Harry Styles so much. It's getting a little, it's a bit much. It's a little indecent. Yes, thank you. Let's step back.

We've listened to five solo efforts from the five members of One Direction. Alexa, you listened, I mean, wow, you listened to a lot of music. I mean, just listening to Zane's entire album on its own is such a lot of all. What are your takeaways if you step back and think about these five individual efforts in the context of one direction and their legacy, I guess? I think a lot of people will read the article I wrote and think that I'm just shitting on One Direction and I am being very critical of the majority of the members. But believe it or not, I wrote this article because I am a big fan of One Direction. and I've obviously been closely following all the individual's careers. And I think what my biggest takeaway was when listening to each different albums

was that with the exception of Harry, I don't feel like any of them have reached their full potential. While they may have felt artistically constrained or limited in their status of One Direction, no one has yet to make an album that has the liveliness and appeal of, of One Direction's best work, and I think that that's really frustrating. For me, as a fan, I just feel like I'm still waiting for the members to surprise me and create something bigger than their previous legacy in One Direction. I love this. So rather than maybe reading this as a criticism, maybe it is more of a challenge.

I like that interpretation. Well, thank you. This has been so much fun. I think for us, regardless of the relative merits or criticisms of each of these records, It's helped kind of sharpen each of these members for us and really see them as individuals. And as you just said, maybe see each of these efforts as like steps on what is hopefully a longer journey, which I'm excited to keep checking in on. So Alexa, after the next round of One Direction albums, let's meet back up and see how each of these artists has progressed in their musical careers. All right. It's a pact. I will see you five albums later.

All right. I'm putting in the Google calendar right now. Thank you, Alexis. This has been fun. Yeah, thank you so much. Switched on Pop is produced by me, Charlie Harding. And Moanaid Sloan. Our producers are Bridget Armstrong and Megan Lubin. We're mixed and engineered by Brandon McFarland. We have fabulous illustrations by Iris Gottlieb,

and our community manager is Abby Barr. Our executive producers are Nashak, Kerwa, and Liz Nelson. We're proud to be members of the Vox Media Podcast, Network, the VMPN, and you can find more episodes of a show anywhere you get podcast. We also love talking to you on Twitter, on the Instagram, on the email. Reach out, touch someone. We'll be there. Yeah, we're at Switched on Pop basically everywhere you can find us.

Thanks so much to Alexa Lee for joining us. And we'll see you next week with a brand new episode. Until then, thanks for listening.