Some artists need little introduction and Niall Horan is certainly one of those. If you didn’t already know, he first found fame as a fresh faced 16 year old in One Direction.

He is now somewhat of a rarity in that it seems that fame and all the world wide adoration he has, has simply made him a nicer man, with proactive work raising money for less able youngsters, along with many of his former bandmates. He has already had solo success with ‘This Town’ and ‘Slow Hands’, and has shown that he is a serious contender to make his solo projects a huge success. 

His new song, ‘No Judgement’ is a quirky pop song, with an upbeat sound that makes you sway from side to side and actually really appreciate the work that has gone into the creation, both musically and lyrically. One thing I have seen frequently with Niall Horan is that he writes quite complex, clever guitar lines that add a uniqueness to his songs. This is definitely the case with ‘No Judgement’. Lyrically, there are a lot of different melody patterns that flow beautifully over a straightforward chord progression, again made fantastically interesting by the guitar work that intricately gives excellent texture to the verse, bridge and chorus. The thing about this song I really like is that it isn’t relying on lots of effects to keep you interested. There are subtle overdubs of vocals to add harmonies and a genuinely catchy melody that will make this song a huge number for Niall Horan, but that’s it, and that is all it needs. 

Niall Horan has his sound, he has a good voice, but more importantly he is very very accomplished as a songwriter. You can hear in his songs some of his influences, but he certainly isn’t copying anyone, he is creating a really fresh pop sound and using his abilities as a musician to record some really dynamic creations that are making him more and more fans.

 Pop 

Author: Phil Arnold

Phil Arnold is a musician, producer and music reviewer from Devon, in the South West of England. Whilst not writing music reviews, Phil also writes and records under the name of Ugbrooke.