With Louis Tomlinson releasing his long awaited debut album Walls last week, the final piece of the post-One Direction puzzle has been revealed. With all five members solo careers now up and running, we take a look at each debut release and find out if they are good enough to set the singers up for an enduring career.
5. Liam Payne – LP1 (2019)
This is what happens when you don't have a clue about who you are as a potential solo artist. When Payne caught up with The National in 2018, he admitted to being at a loss on how to go forward. Partnered with a gaggle of songwriters, they rightly honed in on Payne's striking falsetto and began transitioning him into a sultry RnB singer. With LP1, they went too far in that direction with an the album full of tasteless raunchy metaphors and anodyne pop. This is not a total career ender, but Payne needs to find out what he is about sooner than later.
4. Niall Horan – Flicker (2017)
Who would have thought there is an artist out there that could make Ed Sheeran sound positively edgy? Not that Horan's effort is totally dire, it is just too sweet. Like, fairy floss cloying in your throat, sweet. Flicker finds Horan paying an all too respectful tribute to 1970's AM radio with acoustic numbers recalling the likes of Fleetwood Mac and Jackson Browne. Nothing wrong with that, but it is all done so delicately and without any real character. You can hear this at a hotel lobby near you.
3. Walls – Louis Tomlinson (2020)
Who knew that it would be good old Louis to pull out a rather strong debut release? I'm surprised too. It was Tomlinson who was the most against One Direction’s split and the last to release a solo album. Judging by how confident he sounds throughout this pop-rocking affair, he has nothing to worry about. Sure, his voice is the weakest out of all five, but married with solid hooks and catchy choruses he sounds well and truly at home.
2. Harry Styles – Harry Styles (2017)
Listen, Style’s debut album is not some bold and arty leap forward into David Bowie-esque territory. Now that the hyperbole has finally died down, let us look at the album for what it truly is: an honest to goodness One Direction album with Styles solo on the mic. The band always had a knack for producing punchy pop tunes and soaring ballads, Styles took on that winning formula and sprinkled it with more introspective lyrics. A strong piece of work.
1. Zayn – Mind of Mine (2016)
A pop gem that will surely be even more appreciated over time. Mind of Mine more than confirmed why Zayn increasingly felt uncomfortable with the slick pop tunes of One Direction. His solo album is in many ways the antithesis of the band. The songs brood, the beats are subdued and the hooks sound watery and hazy. Once you get past some of the more debaucherous lyrics, you get an insight into a young man who sounds uncomfortable with fame and slightly disillusioned with life. It sadly foretold the range of mental health issues that has stalled Malik's career ever since. He has yet to go on a solo tour.
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Bookshops: A Reader's History by Jorge Carrión (translated from the Spanish by Peter Bush),
Biblioasis
if you go
The flights
Emirates flies to Delhi with fares starting from around Dh760 return, while Etihad fares cost about Dh783 return. From Delhi, there are connecting flights to Lucknow.
Where to stay
It is advisable to stay in Lucknow and make a day trip to Kannauj. A stay at the Lebua Lucknow hotel, a traditional Lucknowi mansion, is recommended. Prices start from Dh300 per night (excluding taxes).
Zayed Sustainability Prize
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Review: Tomb Raider
Dir: Roar Uthaug
Starring: Alicia Vikander, Dominic West, Daniel Wu, Walter Goggins
two stars
Know before you go
- Jebel Akhdar is a two-hour drive from Muscat airport or a six-hour drive from Dubai. It’s impossible to visit by car unless you have a 4x4. Phone ahead to the hotel to arrange a transfer.
- If you’re driving, make sure your insurance covers Oman.
- By air: Budget airlines Air Arabia, Flydubai and SalamAir offer direct routes to Muscat from the UAE.
- Tourists from the Emirates (UAE nationals not included) must apply for an Omani visa online before arrival at evisa.rop.gov.om. The process typically takes several days.
- Flash floods are probable due to the terrain and a lack of drainage. Always check the weather before venturing into any canyons or other remote areas and identify a plan of escape that includes high ground, shelter and parking where your car won’t be overtaken by sudden downpours.
Global Fungi Facts
• Scientists estimate there could be as many as 3 million fungal species globally
• Only about 160,000 have been officially described leaving around 90% undiscovered
• Fungi account for roughly 90% of Earth's unknown biodiversity
• Forest fungi help tackle climate change, absorbing up to 36% of global fossil fuel emissions annually and storing around 5 billion tonnes of carbon in the planet's topsoil
The specs: 2019 Cadillac XT4
Price, base: Dh145,000
Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged in-line four-cylinder engine
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Power: 237hp @ 5,000rpm
Torque: 350Nm @ 1,500rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 8.7L / 100km
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
