It’s been over a year since One Direction announced their hiatus, but I’m just now coming to terms with the fact that the band could really be over.
After months of sailing through the rocky waters of denial (this is just an illusion), anger (I thought we were going strong… thought we were holding on), bargaining (just one more tour and we’ll be ready to run), and sadness (so this is where broken hearts go), I’ve finally reached the sweet shores of acceptance.
One Direction might never get back together. And for the first time, I think I’m okay with that.
The journey here was neither a quick, nor an easy one. Like so much of the world, I was completely taken by One Direction’s charms and would have gladly supported them for decades longer. I will confess, I wasn’t one of the earliest adopters. I didn’t jump on the bandwagon until shortly after the release of Take Me Home, but rest assured, when I fell, I fell hard.
Their charisma, honesty, hilarity, and downright adorability all drew me in immediately. Hell, they just always seemed like they were having a damn good time and I wanted to be a part of it. The cool thing about One Direction is that they always made me feel like I could be! We were all in it together.
As the band’s sound and persona evolved through the years, my love for them only grew stronger. I’ve always been a fan of the band’s upbeat, bubblegum boy band hits, and their earlier ballads fed right into my delayed teen angst, but I appreciated that their music grew up with them.
Any artist has to evolve to stay relevant and to stay true to themselves, and One Direction did just that as they gained more control and a better understanding of their artistry. I became obsessed with who was writing on which tracks and was delighted when everyone started getting more involved in the process. As they continued to grow as artists and as a band, it felt like the phenomenon could go on forever.
When Zayn announced that he was leaving the band, I, along with many other Directioners, feared that it might be the beginning of the end. I was ecstatic when the rest of the boys continued with the On the Road Again tour and began working on the band’s fifth album, but I was constantly concerned that a domino effect had been set off, and that soon, none of them would be left standing.
That being said, when One Direction actually began their “one year hiatus” in December of 2015, I remained quite hopeful. It’s just a hiatus, I thought. After the five years that they’d had, they were more than deserving of a break. I graciously decided to allow them one year to relax, connect with loved ones, and do whatever it was that they’d been missing during the five years that they’d been swept into super-stardom. I was being generous, really, but what are fans for?
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As the still fairly recent tracks of Made in the A.M. became a staple in my every playlist, I remained assured that the boys would keep up their end of the bargain. When the haters insisted that I was naive for believing they’d come back, I would just snicker and dream of the day, just beyond the horizon, when the boys would prove them all wrong.
If ever I began to doubt my conviction, for every hater there was an ally telling me that the band’s latest single, “History,” was basically a promise that One Direction’s story was far from over. So, I continued to wait patiently for any announcement indicating that more was coming. Everything was fine. It wasn’t over.
Then, the solo projects started.
Of course, I was always thrilled to hear of the possibility of something new from Niall, Liam, Louis, Harry, or Zayn. However, every jolt of excitement was always met with a twinge of panic. Even though I couldn’t wait to hear what everyone had been working on, every potential single, album, and tour began to feel like another obstacle standing in the way of One Direction ever getting back together. Ridiculous rumors surrounding tattoos, offhand remarks, and explicit comments about extending the hiatus did nothing to help.
When Niall released his first solo single, “This Town,” I absolutely loved it, but I was still torn. The same thing happened with Louis’ Steve Aoki collaboration, “Just Hold On,” and Harry’s, “Sign of the Times.” I was so elated that they were finding success with their own endeavors, but it seemed like everything was starting to snowball in a big way.
Every solo achievement became like a skyscraper, blocking my view of the promised reunion on a horizon that I used to see so clearly. Much of my enthusiasm for the boys’ new projects was replaced with bitterness. I felt like I’d been lied to, and I didn’t see how any of their solo offerings could make up for the lack of One Direction that I’d just realized, might be permanent.
Then, all at once, with the release of Harry’s debut album, Harry Styles, Niall’s, “Slow Hands,” and Liam’s, “Strip That Down,” something changed.
While Niall’s debut single, “This Town,” could easily be added as a bonus track to any One Direction album, there was something so wonderfully surprising about his second effort. I never would’ve expected the sultry tone and delicious bass track of “Slow Hands” from Niall, who spent most of his One Direction days behind his acoustic guitar.
I was equally wowed by Liam’s initial offering. A catchy hip hop track, featuring Quavo, is definitely not what the world would’ve expected from the sweet kid who immediately astonished everyone with his crooning abilities and powerful vocals in his X Factor audition. The boys are clearly using the freedom of a solo career to go into avenues that we never would’ve heard from One Direction, and the material that’s coming out of that is fantastic.
Everyone’s collective singles laid the groundwork for my conversion, but I think it was my millionth listen through Harry’s full album that sealed the deal. For me, it was the diversity of it. And I don’t even mean the complete departure that was “Sign of the Times.” What turned me, was the quiet beauty of tracks like “From the Dining Table,” and “Two Ghosts.”
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We’ve known for years that Harry Styles has extraordinary vocal abilities, and we even got to see a little bit of his writing prowess through his work with One Direction. He’s proven, time and time again, that he can belt out a chorus with the best of them. What we’d never seen before, is the complete range of his voice. He’s equally excellent in the quieter moments, and even in his falsetto, that were always manned by someone else in the context of One Direction.
That’s the beauty of One Direction as solo artists. They all had their roles to fill in the band, and they did so perfectly, but on their own, we get to see them play all the parts. We get to explore sides of them that we may never have seen, had they stayed together. It sounds so obvious, but it’s something I needed to experience to appreciate.
To know them as an ensemble was amazing, but to know them as individuals is to see their complete potential. As I continue to listen to everything that the One Direction members are producing, I’m dumbfounded by how deep that well of potential is.
What I keep coming back to, now, is how stupidly lucky we were that these insanely talented individuals ever existed as a group in the first place. These five, and later four, people who are all superstars in their own right, were brought together to provide us with the beautiful, completely improbable, once in a lifetime experience that was One Direction. They gave us five albums, four tours and countless memories. Now that I consider it, to ask for more is simply unreasonable.
The skills and experience that they gained as part of one of the biggest bands in the world have gotten them ready for this next chapter. The industry contacts they’ve made and the fan base that they’ve accumulated from their time in One Direction have ensured that every door will be open to them. There’s nothing standing in the way of them being the best they can be, and I can’t wait to see what comes next.
I can finally say that I’m ready to usher in the next phase of One Direction. I’m ready for the new world of possibilities that Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, Harry Styles, Liam Payne and Zayn Malik offer as solo artists. I mean, just volume wise, we now get five times the content, so this really can’t be a bad thing.
Will I ever stop hoping for just one more full band performance, one more tour, or even one more album? Probably not. What kind of Directioner would I be if I said any different (#NeverEnough). But, if that never happens, I’ll be more than content with the five wonderful years of music and memories that the band gave us, and will always wait enthusiastically for whatever comes next!