Niall Horan thinks 2019 was the "most fun year" of his career.
Niall Horan
The 26-year-old singer - who first found fame as part of One Direction - is loving life as a solo artist, and is also enjoying his new-found sense of freedom.
He shared: "2019 was my most fun year.
"I had a good balance of being in the studio, having enough time to think about what I was going to write and then spending time with my friends, going home to Ireland."
Niall is set to release his new album, 'Heartbreak Weather', later this month.
And the pop star is relishing the experience of taking control over his own career.
He told GQ magazine: "I've been doing it for ten years, so it's about time I took the reins. And it's been great.
"Even down to the creative elements, I've found with the upcoming album that I've become a lot more creative, whether that's writing my last video or designing the set for my tour."
Niall is thankful he has the opportunity to take his time with his solo material.
He admitted the approach contrasts sharply to his days in One Direction, when the band were under pressure to deliver new music as quickly as possible.
He said: "The whole process has been more stretched out, whereas in the band, everything was going at once. Make an album, shoot a video, bang, bang, bang. And before you knew it it was all done."
Niall added that he didn't write much music during his One Direction days because he was "too lazy".
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