Alex Coleman @AlexColman831 (Daily Powwow Editor)
British-Irish boyband One Direction has just recently announced the upcoming release of their new album. The bands fourth CD, cleverly named FOUR, will be released on November 17th of this year. The new single Fireproof was released on Monday, September 8th. The song was available for free for the 24 hours after it was released, and will not be fully released for play on the radio or to buy until a later date. This song, however, will not be the official first single for the new album.
The band’s last three albums have all been a slight change in sound. The first album-Up All Night-was everything one would expect from a boyband’s first album. It was bubble gum pop, everything was sung in threes, and it was a safe angle. The second album-Take Me Home-was decently different from the first. There was still the high energy, pop vibe to the album, but the overall sound was a little bit more rock. Also, the band wrote a few of the songs that were released. The most recently released album-Midnight Memories-was the biggest change the band has made so far. The CD included a genre change, more advanced vocals, and the group wrote three-fourths of the album itself. This new album has a lot riding on it, with yet another change in sound, the band is going for a bit more of an Indie Rock vibe. With the possibility of gaining another genre’s fans also comes the possibility of losing others.
Each year, a single is released to introduced the new album. The first single-What Makes You Beautiful-broke the Sony Music Entertainment pre-order record by selling 153,965 copies in its first week. The song was upbeat, popular for the lyrics which were directed towards fans telling them how they were beautiful. The second single-Live While We’re Young-debuted as number three on the Billboard top 100, the highest of any British musician besides Elton John. The song was a little more risque for the band, with a rockier sound and more suggestive lyrics. The third single-Best Song Ever-music video broke the Vevo 24 hour record with 12.3 million views. The song completely switched up what people expected from the band, the lyrics actually making fun of ‘classic boyband songs’. The latest release-Fireproof-although not the official single, was the first real look at the upcoming album. It broke the record for most downloads in 24 hours on iTunes with 1.1 million downloads. As previously stated, the song is Indie, a completely different direction from anything the band has done before. The vocals and harmonies within the song are more interesting, and the lyrics are more mature. Hopefully this will read into the rest of the album.
