Artist: One Direction
Album: Four
Genre: Pop
Label: Columbia/Syco

A year after delivering their hit-filled record Midnight Memories, One Direction have returned with a new album that features a far more mature sound.

It’s hard to understand when the members of One Direction found time to record new material over the last twelve months. Between seemingly endless world tour plans, promotional appearances, charitable efforts, pop-up shops, and everything in between, it’s kind of hard to believe the five-piece boy band have recorded and released an album every year since 2011. Four is by far the most mature record of the bunch, and it features a far less confectionery sound that asks listeners to allow the boys turned men of 1D a chance to try something new.

Everything written above may lead you to believe Four flips the scripts entirely, but that is not exactly the case. Many tracks on the record, including “Steal My Girl” and “Fireproof,” boast a radio-ready sound that falls perfectly in line with singles the group have released in the past. Both tracks are admittedly a bit slower than those previous efforts, but the simplistic structure and easy to memorize hook are staples of the 1D sound. I’m not sure either song has the inherent catchiness needed to earn a week or more at number on the Billboard singles chart, but the track “Where Do Broken Hearts Go” certainly does. The deep album cut, which falls third on the track listing, builds from a typical power ballad sound into an infectious and undeniable wall of pop music goodness that keeps you coming back again and again. It’s the trendiest track on the record, but surprisingly it fits well into the overall flow of the album. “Stockholm Syndrome” and “Girl Almighty” also feel fairly familiar in terms of typical 1D productions, but neither really stand out on repeat listens.

The aforementioned maturity comes to light when spinning the songs that feel created out of passion rather than a desire to score big at radio. “18,” for example, finds One Direction crooning about the lasting strength of young love while reciting lyrics penned by Ed Sheeran. It’s catchy, but unassumingly so. You have to sit back and let the song come to you. Unlike the majority of the band’s catalog, Four isn’t afraid to make you wait for the hook. The songs are still essentially a mixtape of tracks contributed by the biggest names in songwriting today, but they seem chosen for reasons that go beyond label pressure for success. “Night Changes,” for example, offers a beautiful and soft-spoken ballad that lyrically plays well with the idea of this being 1D’s ‘grown up’ record. Likewise, “Clouds” feels less like a boy band reciting other people’s words and more like an up-and-coming indie band on the verge of crossover superstardom. Think American Authors crossed with Paramore and just a dash of Cobra Starship. Yeah, it’s that good.

While the desire to be more mature is clear and more often than not executed incredibly well, there are moments when Four falls flat. These instances occur most frequently in the middle of the record, and it’s not as much inherently bad material as it is material that feels caught between the band’s classic sound and their mutual desire to try something new. “Ready To Run” feels like a Midnight Memories leftover, with nothing new to say or express that cannot be found on a million other disposable pop songs. Likewise, “Spaces” hopes to come across heartfelt and instead delivers sap in heavy doses. Every 1D record seems to have one song that tries just a bit too hard to pull on tween heartstrings, and on Four it’s “Spaces” that has a hard time hitting the mark.

The chances of Four changing the mind of someone who has long written off One Direction is likely quite minimal, but if any collection of songs could make a person reconsider their feelings about the boy band that doesn’t dance, this record is certainly it. The boys that were pulled together by Simon Cowell and that decaying monster known as reality television have toured the world many times over at this point with a sound that is as safe and proven as anything in music, but now it’s time for a change. Four switches things up just enough to keep things interesting while still relying on many of the structures and themes that helped 1D earn their place atop the pop music hierarchy. I’m not sure this record will be enough to secure One Direction’s spot as the biggest boy band in the world for another year, but it’s certainly their most original and genuinely interesting release to date. 1D want to grow with their fans, which is something many in their genre never have the courage to attempt. So far, it works, and I’m one hundred percent on board for more.

SCORE: 8/10
Review written by James Shotwell Follow @utgjames

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James Shotwell

James Shotwell is the founder of Under The Gun Review. He loves writing about music and movies almost as much as he loves his two fat cats. He's also the co-founder of Antique Records and the Marketing Coordinator for Haulix. You should probably follow him on Twitter.

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