Flicker Debuts Niall Horan as Solo Artist
Almost six years after One Direction’s first album released, Niall Horan released Flicker, his debut solo album. With 13 songs, fans of the boy band finally get to hear Horan’s voice alone. Flicker takes the pop/rock sounds that defined One Direction, and integrates that sound with folk songs. Listeners can expect to hear a combination of both pop and folk on this album.
The Irish singer recalls writing the album in an interview with Rolling Stone, “It all really started in March last year when me and my long time friend Jamie Scott sat down in the studio in London and wrote ‘This Town’ on day one and then ‘Too Much to Ask’ on the second day.”
To write the album, Horan worked with a team of writers who created many of One Direction’s most popular songs. Some of the collaborators included Jamie Scott, Julian Bunetta and John Ryan. “I wanted this album to be completely personal,” Horan says, “and therefore the best way for me to get what I wanted out of the songs was to write them with friends.”
Horan self describes his album as inspired by classic rock, but also “folk-with-pop feel to it”. The album draws inspiration from the Eagles and Fleetwood Mac.
The first single released off of Flicker was “This Town”. Released on September 29, 2016, “This Town” peaked on the UK singles chart at number nine, and number 20 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The second single “Slow Hands” (May 4, 2017) was more favorable among listeners and peaked at number 11 on the US Billboard Hot 100. Flicker was named the third best album of 2017 according to the Rolling Stone’s Readers’ Poll.
There are two categories of songs featured on this album, pop and folk. Some songs cross over into both categories, but they all fit into those two groups. Songs with a pop sound include, “On The Loose”, “Slow Hands”, “Too Much To Ask”, “Mirrors”, and “The Tide”. While the folk based songs include, “This Town” “Seeing Blind”, “Paper Houses”, “Since We’re Alone”, “Flicker”, “Fire Away”, “You And Me”, and “On My Own”.
“Seeing Blind” stands out on the album as the only song with a featured singer. Country singer, Maren Morris, joins Horan in the song to accompany his vocals. “And I can’t believe my eyes/Oh, I must be seein’ blind/Oh, no I, you’re too good to be all mine,” is repeated throughout the song. Billboard describes the song as an acoustic-based track, while Horan adds it has an “infectious chorus accented by Morris’ vocals,”. While the song is catchy, it also forces the listener to actually listen to the lyrics instead of just hear them. The song is not overly processed so the vocals are very easy to hear and understand. It makes it easier on the listener to listen to and process the story being told by Horan and Morris.
Another stand out track on the album is “You and Me”. The rock influences are apparent in this track, however the base is still primarily folk. The song tells a story of a couple who are “star-crossed lovers”. Nothing goes right for them. “Time’s never been on our side/ So would you wait for me?… I can promise it/I can guarantee/That at the end of the road/I see you with me,” Horan sings.
The album as a whole is put together very well. The songs flow together nicely without loosing the listeners attention between songs. The pop-folk style of the music is catchy without being overdone. With the rock influenced flare mixed with the acoustics, there are few albums with a similar feel.
Flicker was released on October 20, 2017 and is available on iTunes and Spotify.
