As the Zayn Malik era ended for One Direction this past spring, another door opened and it was time to release their 5th album, “Made in the AM.” The four remaining members of One Direction, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Liam Payne, and Niall Horan, needed to prove to their fans that they still deserve to be on top of the charts even without one of their members. The first sneak peek the fans had of the album was “Drag Me Down” which was released with a bang on radio stations around the world. The song was definitely unexpected since it was not like their usual pop romance ballads. The band surprised radio listeners with a song filled with beat drops and a hip-hop aura which led to much excitement for the upcoming album. Maybe the band would finally take their music in another direction, appealing to more than just fainting and blushing teenage girls.
With the Nov. 13 release of “Made in the AM,” the eager earphones of fans were filled with sounds of guitars and the grown up voices of the band. The new album did hold a lot of surprises like the song “History,” which has a country vibe with acoustic guitars. While sitting on the bus on the way home from school, listening to the song feels like everyone should grab their guitars and rocking chairs and do the hoedown on the front porch. For the songs “What a Feeling” and “Olivia,” the band brings the word pop to a whole new level, and in the process leave listeners bobbing their heads and tapping their foot to the catchy lyrics.
The new songs are all unique in their own way, but they only sound unique when listened to one at a time. If listening to the whole album nonstop — all 17 songs — it all sounds like one drawn out song about heartbreak and love. While some individual songs could potentially lift your mood, the whole album together creates a solemn and sad mood since the songs all have to do with different types of failed romances. It is hard to believe that the boys of One Direction have the romance problems they sing about, since they have a whole world full of girls willing to be with them.
The band’s songs are in first person and usually addressed to girls, specifically girls named Diana and Olivia. With lyrics like “You’re perfect to me,” “Let me be your last first kiss,” and “I have loved you since we were 18,” One Direction songs give fans false hope that they actually have a chance to have a relationship with the boys romantically.
Even with the catchy tunes, talented voices and romantic lyrics, One Direction’s new album, “Made in the AM” lacks any real uplifting morals to the songs. All of the songs on their album have to do with heartbreak and forbidden love. For people who have recently experienced the pain of a broken heart, the album is a great thing to listen to in the car on a cloudy day to feel reassured that you are not alone in your struggles with romance. It informs listeners that even your favorite boys in One Direction have faced this problem in life.
But for listeners yearning for a pump up song to brighten their day, lift their mood, or provide a nice beat to dance to, the new album might not be a top listening choice. Ultimately, “Made in the AM” is not successful in appealing to that elusive wider audience who do not happen to be teenage girls. I guess for now, the band’s music is still going in the same, one direction.
