Recommendations of the Editorial team
After three solo albums and a good seventeen years in the music industry, Niall Horan is more experienced, wiser and softer. For his fourth record he’s doing a few things differently. We met the 32-year-old in Berlin and talked to him about vulnerability, growth and dinner parties.
If he could choose, he would rather be a guest than a host at a dinner party, the singer reveals. His new album is called “Dinner Party” and will be released on June 5th. When we meet him, he is in Berlin to let his fans get a taste of the new music for the first time at a pre-listening. So this evening he will be the host. “I’m a good and bad host at the same time,” admits Horan, “I have to clean up all the time, so I spend less time talking to everyone.” Nevertheless, he takes a few minutes this afternoon to take us on the journey of creating his new album.
His new way of working
“This time the album was done a little differently: We rented houses in different places around the world – Texas, London, Nashville – we were everywhere. We stayed for a week at a time and then distanced ourselves from making the album. Then we brainstormed new ideas and came back. Every time we came back, we had a whole band there and just played. I had a microphone and sang along while we played. That’s how the melodies for the songs developed. That’s a noticeable difference from before, when we just “We sat together, played and talked.”
The album as a setlist: tempo instead of chronology
“I treated the album more like a setlist – I think setlists and tracklists are very different. On my last album ‘The Show’ I created a chronological story. On this album the tempo feels more important: getting people up and down again, then up again and then down a little bit.”
“That’s what you do with a concert setlist: you try to think of it like a roller coaster going up and down. You try to keep the emotions flowing throughout the night. It’s the same thing with this tracklist.”
Vulnerability and getting older
In addition to meeting his girlfriend at a dinner party, “Dinner Party” also deals with other, very personal topics. Niall Horan thinks he’s become a little “soft” with age: “I think I’ve been pretty vulnerable before. People just noticed that vulnerability this time. I’ve probably been a little more vulnerable on some of the songs on this album. I guess that comes with age. Maybe I’m just getting a little older, softer and more emotional.”
From the large audience to the individual fan
We ask him what his growing experience has made him think about differently today than he did before. His answer is detailed and shows the deep appreciation of his fans:
“I think in general you get wiser the older you get. I’m not sure if it’s really specific. Things you never thought about now concern you – or the other way around: you suddenly think more deeply about things you’ve seen casually.”
Niall Horan returns with his album “Dinner Party” wiser and more vulnerable – and is therefore closer to his fans than ever. You can watch our entire conversation about his perfect dinner party and the making of the album here:
“As the years go by, you become more experienced in life and think about things differently than before. In terms of my work: the longer I do it, I see the people who come to the concerts and buy the music differently. I find it so interesting, firstly, that they still come, and that every single person has a story. Years ago I stood on stage and just perceived it as a big sea of people who came to watch and enjoy. Now I think about them very individually. Every person has a story, how how she became a fan, where she got the music, the concert tickets, how she got here that night. I feel more connected to the individual than to the large group.”