Made in the A.M. is 1D’s Let It Be. The cover has Beatles-worthy body language: four boys on a cheap couch, Liam Payne and Niall Horan smiling in opposite directions, Louis Tomlinson and Harry Styles staring defiantly into your eyes. Lots of sensitive breakup songs here – hey, girl, before you go, let’s toast the minibars and expensive cars, the good champagne and private planes. But, it sure doesn’t sound like a band that’s hanging it up, because all four are on a roll musically, chasing the rock vibe of Midnight Memories and Four. The Brit-pop loop “Hey Angel” is a dead ringer for the Verve’s “Bittersweet Symphony,” and “What a Feeling” splices hooks from at least six different Fleetwood Max hits. And in case you thought they were flawless, there’s the folky “I Want To Write You A Song” – please, guys, no boat symbolism on the solo LPs, OK?
“Walking in the Wind” comes from a noble boyband tradition: the ballad that bits farewell to the audience at the end of a gold rush, a la the Bay City Rollers’ “The Way I Feel Tonight” or the Backstreet Boys’ “Shape of My Heart.” There’s nothing coy about it, with lines like “Goodbyes are bittersweet” and “We had some times, didn’t we?” 1D reprise the sentiment in the finale, “A.M.” which all four co-wrote, joining their voices: “Swimming around in our glasses / And talking out of our asses.” Talk about going out on top.