Niall Horan has recruited Adele's writer and producer Greg Kurstin to work on his solo album.
Niall Horan
The 22-year-old One Direction singer recently signed a deal with Simon Cowell's Syco label and is believed to be hard at work on his upcoming record in Los Angeles.
A source told The Sun on Sunday: "Niall wrote with One Direction but he's got a real talent, and the bosses are hoping to make the most of that by teaming him up with some brilliant people.
"He wants to move away from boyband stuff and show what he can do, and he's being doing some great work with Greg, among others.
"There was a worry at first that because he came from a manufactured band, he wouldn't be taken seriously.
"But people are lining up to record with him.
"It's early days, but this record looks like it could really be something special."
One Direction are currently on an indefinite hiatus and Niall's bandmates are all hard at work on solo projects.
Liam Payne has signed a solo deal with Capitol UK, while Harry Styles - who recently finished filming Christopher Nolan's 'Dunkirk' - is believed to have an $80m deal with Columbia.
Louis Tomlinson is planning to focus on his record label during the break, and he recently teamed up with Simon Cowell to launch a new girl group, who Simon says are "as good as I have ever heard".
He said: "He has just signed a deal with us as an imprint of a record label. He has a new artist who is going to be released this year I hope who are incredible.
"He has got fantastic instincts. He told me about this idea I would say a year or 18 months ago. He stuck with it.
"They are unbelievably good. They are as good as I have ever heard. I think he has got a real knack for this."
Tagged in Harry Styles Niall Horan Louis Tomlinson