Niall Horan is back! The former One Direction member stopped by On Air With Ryan Seacrest on Friday, October 4, after dropping highly anticipated new single “Nice to Meet Ya.” The 26-year-old Irishman’s rockier edge comes after taking a two year break since releasing debut solo album, Flicker.
“I grew up on a lot of ‘70s and ‘80s rock and roll and I like to think we got it across there,” Niall dished to Seacrest of the new track off his forthcoming second studio album. “The song came about on a day where nothing was really happening and then I just started playing that big riff on the electric guitar and the song came from there and kind of wrote itself. … Sometimes the better songs are the ones you wait for.”
The “What a Time” singer added that while working on his new album, he channeled a bevy of "characters," including one of his idols, Elvis Presley.
“I had to be told to kind of tone back my Elvis [voice],” Niall admitted, revealing his creative process involves just going for it. “You just close your eyes and put your headphones on and get on the mic and you just turn into someone else. … There’s so much music out there and the way to be different is to just try stuff … and get into character.”
The fresh pop rock track features Niall’s long-time collaborator Julian Bunetta as well as Tobias Jesso, Jr. and Ruth-Anne Cunningham and is just a tease of what’s to come.
“I’m ready to go [I have the full album complete], apart from track list and the exact amount of songs on it,” Niall confirmed to Seacrest.”… Apart from that, I’m pretty much ready to go. I’m thinking February, March next year, something like that.”
The singer-songwriter added that yes, “there will be a few singles in the coming months” prior to the full album drop and that there’s a breakup ballad.
“It was the first song I’d written shortly after a breakup and I just sat down at the piano and started writing what was in my head,” Niall, who was previously linked to Hailee Steinfeld, continued, adding that while it’s “easier” to write ballads, the media attempting to analyze his personal life never gets easier.
“When you write it, it’s tough, and then like the first few times you listen to it, … but then after that, … [fans] think it’s about something else because they’re connecting it to something that happened to them,” Niall explained. “… That’s what a lot of the time is frustrating … in the media … the minute you bring a ballad of some sort, its like, ‘Who is it about? I want to know!' Just so they can create the story, but the truth is, that’s not why I wrote it. I wrote it for me and then it becomes someone else's song when its released because they get their own take on it.”
Regardless of who it’s about, we can’t wait to hear it. Watch back the full interview in the video above and stream “Nice to Meet Ya” now!