“Midnight Memories” is the next phase in a whirlwind 2-year period that has seen the band sell over 35 million records worldwide, many of which were sold in the United States, the U.K. Who wouldn’t, being on the road all year long? Wouldn’t give it up for anything though.” Horan will admit to the occasional bout of homesickness, however, which plays out in album cut “Don’t Forget Where You Belong.” “Luckily, I have my four best mates on the road with me to keep me from getting lonely,” he says.

They know who they are better than anyone and they also know what their fans want better than anyone.” “It’s like the prime ripe moment, they’ve been like sponges and now they want to express it and talk about it. “They’re experiencing all this crazy stuff right now,” he says. We get to go to amazing places and work with great people, it’s just really fun!”īunetta wrote with the boys often individually or in pairs of two in hotel rooms and on tour buses across a half-dozen dates of the band’s UK tour and another half-dozen in the States this past summer.

Adds Harry Styles more succinctly, “I don’t think it’s that hard to stay focused. “I’m a night owl, so the late-night recordings don’t really bother me - as long as I can sleep in late!” says Zayn Malik of the recording process. after a brief 10-day vacation, the band members seem refreshed and eager as ever to maintain the grueling pace of the last three years. One Direction’s 20 Silliest Instagram Photos “The facts we knew going into the making of this album was that they were going to do a stadium tour, so we wanted to make sure these songs really felt at home when you play them for that many people live as well as when you put it on in your car,” says Julian Bunetta, a veteran music producer on “The X Factor” who produced and co-wrote a large majority of “Midnight Memories” with the boys. There’s also a dual focus on a more mature, folk-pop sound, as evidenced by second single “Story Of My Life,” and additional tracks like the Mumford-leaning “Through The Dark,” and “Happily,” which could go neck and neck with Avicii’s “Wake Me Up!” for the year’s most insanely catchy song to combine banjo and synths.

“Midnight Memories,” One Direction’s third album (out November 25) is perhaps the most representative work of the band’s five members to date, with the group contributing lyrics to 12 of the 14 songs on the standard edition (and an additional three on the 18-track deluxe.) It boasts more guitar work from member Niall Horan, and an abundance of references to ’80s rock, from the Joan Jett-esque title track to the Police-worthy “Diana” and a more overt rewriting of Rick Springfield’s “Jesse’s Girl” on bonus cut “Does He Know.” A Longer Version of This Cover Story Appears In the New Billboard - Buy This Issue For the complete cover story, buy this week’s issue. This is an exclusive One Direction Q&A, parts of which appear in the new Billboard.

One direction midnight memories deluxe