In the case of One Direction, which became a Tumblr phenomenon in the wake of its “X Factor” success, and which has had only a handful of genuine hits, not only does demand outpace supply, it may require almost no supply at all. “Midnight Memories” (Syco/Columbia) is its third album, and it establishes how little it takes to keep a global pop phenomenon moving. Listen to some of the best new recordings here. Classical Music: 2021 was a year of reawakening for the art form.Jazz Albums: Even the big-statement albums this year had a feeling of intense closeness.Pop Albums: Recordings with big feelings and room for catharsis made the most powerful connections.Best Songs: A posthumous political statement and a superstar’s 10-minute redo are among the 66 best tracks of 2021.They don’t dance, they’re not particularly enthusiastic, and though their disdain isn’t palpable, their self-awareness always is.įrom Lil Nas X to Mozart to Esperanza Spalding here is what we loved listening to this year. They play the part almost resentfully, with the mien of people who know better.
And continuing to call One Direction a boy band is simply wrong.
Almost from the beginning, its members - Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson - have seemed older than the job required, even though they are just 19 to 21. Cowell was referring to a corollary of the immutable law of boy bands: The band’s fans age, but the band generally does not. “Eventually, they probably will split up and maybe want to have their own careers,” he said, a statement that most likely sent shivers down the tiny spines of One Direction fans but is, of course, merely stating the obvious.
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In the current issue of Billboard, at the end of the cover feature on One Direction, there is a cooling mist of reality spritzed by, who else, Simon Cowell, the TV judge-impresario who helped Frankenstein this group into existence on the 2010 season of the British version of “The X Factor.”