Niall Horan has revealed that Radiohead – and the ’90s in general – played a surprising role in shaping his forthcoming album Dinner Party.
Speaking to NME, the former One Direction star explained that one of the project’s standout tracks, Tastes So Good, pushed him into new creative territory.
He said: “It’s quite aggressive for me – in a great way.”
What struck him most was frontman Thom Yorke’s ability to stretch emotion across minimal lyrics.
He continued: “I listened to a lot of Radiohead making this and drew from Thom Yorke’s melodic standpoint of not having many words in a phrase… I was just trying to drag the phrase out with not a lot of words. Usually I would try and fit in as many words as possible.”
Asked if it was hard to convey emotions with minimal words, he said: “It allows you to get the thought across in a more condensed way, and the listener still understands what you’re trying to get at. You don’t have to over-explain yourself.”
He also praised Thom’s signature delivery, which helped guide the album’s mood.
He said: “I just like the drawly-ness of Thom Yorke’s vocal… maybe ‘drawl’ is the wrong word, but the way he elongates everything, it sounds darker and deeper. I mean, obviously Thom Yorke is an absolute genius.”
Niall acknowledged that the decade’s influence runs throughout the record.
He said: “There’s a lot of ’90s stuff that comes into this album… if I was to stick a decade on it, I would say ’90s is probably the most prevalent across the board.”
Niall recently confirmed he’ll be back on the road this year, announcing his Dinner Party Live On Tour in support of the LP.
The UK and European leg begins on September 22, 2026, at Birmingham’s Utilita Arena, and will see the singer play some of the continent’s biggest venues, including London’s The O2, Dublin’s 3Arena, Amsterdam’s Ziggo Dome, and Paris’ Accor Arena.
Presales roll out throughout next week, with general tickets available from Thursday, April 2 at 10am local time via niallhoran.com. Mastercard holders in the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Denmark, Italy and Poland will also have access to an exclusive presale from March 31 until April 2.
As part of the tour, £1 from every UK ticket sold will be donated to the LIVE Trust, helping to protect and support grassroots music venues across the country.
The tour marks Horan’s biggest run of European shows to date and follows the success of his previous solo outings, with fans set to hear new material from Dinner Party live for the first time.
Dinner Party is released on June 5.