#SongoftheWeek: Niall Horan – ‘Nice To Meet Ya’

• ARTIST: Niall Horan
• SONG: Nice To Meet Ya

SO ALEX, WHY IS THIS YOUR SONG OF THE WEEK?

I think it’s worth having a customary refresh of my closing words on my review of ‘Flicker’, Niall Horan’s debut solo album exactly two years ago: ‘When, in a year or two from now, as with Take That and Spice Girls before them, the rest of One Direction realise that being a member of one of pop’s biggest acts will only take you so far for a solo career of considerable length and success, Niall’s going to be the one with singles on the airwaves and shifting albums for a while to come.‘

After clocking up four billion streams worldwide, going platinum and topping the charts in 18 countries, embarking on a sold out tour, storming the #1 slot on the Billboard charts in the States with both the album and it’s still blinding bop of a single ‘Slow Hands’, we don’t like to say ‘I told you so’ but well. I told you so.

For whilst Zayn Malik has been dropped from his label to major indifference, Harry Styles spends time going on about mushroom trips whilst dressed as the unholy union between Mick Jagger and a Victorian governess, Liam Payne spends time wearing not very much on Instagram and Louis Tomlinson does… well, nothing of note, Niall is actually going places.

For in a time when most former pop group members barely make it to a debut solo album, let alone releasing one that could be considered a success, Niall’s second solo opus is now ready and waiting at the gates after almost a year in the making.

And if ‘Nice To Meet Ya’ is any indication, it’s going to be just as good if not better than what came before. For starters: it’s not what you would expect from Niall at all. We mean that in the best possible way.

It’s two and a half minutes of nagging hooks, more than one chorus (at least we think so), humming, hand claps and a shuffly piano and breakbeat thing going on that makes it sound straight out of well, the radio twenty years ago. Think Andreas Johnson of ‘Glorious’ hit fame on steroids.

We’re also a bit in love with this lyric from the first demi-chorus: “I like the way you talk / I like the things you wear / I want your number tattooed on my arm in ink I swear”. And on the sixth listen you suddenly realise his voice here. It’s a revelation. It’s a bit more bluesy and gravelly and has an assured swagger and charm about it.

‘Nice To Meet Ya’ is a bit like the pop equivalent of one of those Magic Eye paintings – you’re rewarded with repeated listens and hear new things each time. Just as well that we’ll be hearing this everywhere from now until 2020, no? Welcome back Nialler.

‘Nice To Meet Ya’ is available to stream and download now via Capitol Records. Niall’s as yet untitled second album is set for release early next year. Twitter: @NiallOfficial

Don’t forget to Tweet us or comment below and let us know your thoughts on our #SongoftheWeek this week! Plus you can follow our brand new #SongoftheWeek playlist on Spotify, so you never miss a new song and you hear it first.