Midnight Memories has us on the fence, really.

Whilst it definitely doesn’t sound like the pop you’d expect from One Direction, it doesn’t sound dramatically different, either.

Photo: Beyond the Barricade Photography (via Flickr)

The album has widely been described as slightly more rocky than their previous work.

This slight change in style isn’t necessarily a bad thing though. The pop rock kicks in songs like You & I and Midnight Memories and surprisingly it actually work quite well.

It’s probably the lyrics that save this album. Whilst some of them are fairly mediocre, a couple really do stand out as well written break up/love songs. Through the Dark, Half a Heart and Story of my life are great examples, with relatable and well put together lyrics that really tell stories. No really, they do..

But you are sort of left wondering if some of them were written by nutters or 50 year old men in a mid-life crisis. Half a Heart is an example of this. “being here without you is like I’m waking up to only half a blue sky, kinda there- but not quite, I’m walking ’round with just one shoe, I’m half a heart without you.” The concept is cute, but come on…you wouldn’t go out with just one shoe on because of a break up. What if you stood in a puddle? Then you’d have a wet foot as well as no relationship.

It’s a very different sound to Take Me Home, but if you’re a fan, then you’ll probably like it. It’s perhaps the oestrogen fuelled, Bridget Jones inspired LP pop needed right now to fight back against vile sex driven songs flooding the charts and it’s definitely worth a listen.