The first time I listened to Dinner Party, I was painting my nails. I was putting on some shimmery polish for a date I had the next day, listening to Niall Horan sing about his girlfriend for 36 minutes. It felt like the perfect setting to listen to an album like Dinner Party. This fourth album caught my eye the minute it was announced, as it was the most promo Niall has ever done for an album. He’s spent the whole press tour telling us about his girlfriend of six years and how they met at a, you guessed it, dinner party. He’s been cooking, playing quiz games with his fans (Lovers), and hosting real dinner parties for the Lovers to get together and listen to the album. The press for the music has been painting a picture of an intimate and fun sound, so I was a bit confused when I listened to the album and didn’t get much of either. 

Don’t get me wrong, there is definitely some fun in this album; “Boys Are Fun” has it in the name, after all. It’s a favourite from the album for me. With its upbeat sound and silly lyrics like “if you want someone to complain about”, it goes on a journey explaining how annoying men can be, but they can be a good laugh. It was an enjoyable listen and a nice break from the crippling similarities in the rest of the songs. 

Getting into the instrumentals, 95% of Dinner Party uses only two instruments: drums and acoustic guitar (sometimes electric if we’re feeling crazy), which gets tiring quickly. The drums are also using the same basic beat. Songs blend together quickly to the point where I lose track of which song I’m listening to. If I’m getting excited about three seconds of piano at the end of “She Gets It From Her Mother”, I think we need more piano. More anything, really. We do get some nice effects on the guitar, and a rogue violin in “Die If I Don’t,” as well as some actual piano in “End of an Era,” which I won’t be touching in this review as it’s for Niall’s late band member Liam Payne (as a One Direction fan I won’t even try to be objective about that one). These monotonous instrumentals, along with some rather shallow lyrics, make this album plain boring at points. 

It was really disappointing for me when I heard the lyrics on this album. Niall has some beautiful songs; his album Heartbreak Weather (my fave of his) has some stunning lyrics, so I was thrown for a loop by how lacklustre some of these songs felt. His biggest crime is forced rhyme schemes. “Flowers” suffers from it the most. The chorus rhymes power with flowers in a way that feels unnatural, and it’s followed by rhyming hours and flowers (again). I never want to hear a word in a song and think it was only used because it rhymed with the last one. If that wasn’t enough, this song just feels impersonal. It was actually inspired by a tweet a Lover made about Niall, saying, “Your eyes could grow flowers”, which I do think is a cool idea. It makes fans feel a part of the album, but I don’t think it works with the concept of the album being about Niall’s long-time girlfriend. That immediately sets the audience up to expect some deeply personal love confessions. A friend of mine (who’s also a veteran 1D fan) told me that if she were Niall’s girlfriend, she’d be embarrassed that this was the album he wrote about her. While quite a harsh thing to say, I see her point. None of the songs feel like something you’d write about the love of your life. They’re lacking personality and detail.  

Like, for example, the song “Pretty” is a cute concept: playing with the idea that she’s so beautiful he could wax poetic about her, but instead keeps it simple because she doesn’t understand how pretty she really is. It’s a tough thing to do, as there is a fine line between sweet and simple, but it’s just not creative. Most of the song is just “you’re so fucking pretty” repeated over and over, which would be sweet and simple if the supporting lyrics were clever, but they’re just hollow. 

I love Niall Horan. He’s your favourite member of One Direction’s favourite member. He’s got really strong vocals (that don’t get enough credit) that really shine through on Dinner Party, along with a great stage presence and cheeky personality. I wish he’d be more experimental with his music. He loves a subtle country sound and some acoustic guitar, and it definitely works for him! It’s clear he’s found his “sound”, as they say, but I’d love for him to keep exploring. Dinner Party feels like he’s stuck in his ways, maturing too much from his Heartbreak Weather days. This new album doesn’t let his talent shine as I’ve seen it; I hope he really goes for it and gets experimental for his fifth album. 

Edited by Jemima Humphrey 

Sub-edited by Kadie Cooper