Four years since the popular boyband One Direction announced its hiatus back in 2016, each of the band’s members have gone on to release their own solo albums and break some Billboard records along the way. Having just recently celebrated their 10-year anniversary two months ago on July 23, fans didn’t waste any time to rejoice when an unreleased 2014 song, “Half the World Away,” was leaked on YouTube on Aug. 25.
Although the song was recorded around the same time that the band’s fourth album came out, it is clear the song was intended for their sophomore album. The song brought nostalgia to fans back to when they first started, prior to when Zayn left. It brought tears to Directioners eyes to hear a hidden gem from their favorite childhood band.
Fans have also stated that this is the best surprise they have had in years. Nobody knew that the boys of One Direction would ever surprise their fans like this. After “Half the World Away” was leaked, many started to hope for a return or reunion between the band mates. “Half the World Away,” within less than a day, had over 400,000 views and within hours, the new One Direction channel titled “The One Direction Archive” had over 40,000 subscribers. This came before the leaked song was deleted from the channel.
Written by Harry Styles in 2013, “Half the World Away” the song appears to sound more like a solo track rather than a song featuring the entire band even though the soft strumming of guitars and wholesome harmonies are reminiscent of their sound. In the description box of the “Half the World Away” video, it says, “the first official unreleased One Direction song that has ever been leaked, the first. Does that mean more is coming?!?” Although this is the first time fans are getting to hear unreleased music by the band, many are hoping for more.
Fans have had some theories since the channel was recently created, and that the only content since posted is the leaked song “Half A World Away,” could mean that it might have been one of the members of One Direction or someone with connections to them behind it all. If this is true, are they going to leak more? Fans could get Half the World Away to No. 1 on the music charts. Imagine, an unreleased One Direction song topping the charts in 2020.
The last song fans thought they would hear from One Direction was “History.” It was released on Nov. 6, 2015, as the third and final single from their fifth studio album. Even though statistics show that there is a complete list of 109 songs that have been recorded and released by One Direction, this unreleased song will be added to the list. There have been rumors floating around from fans and magazines that One Direction is having a reunion this year on Oct. 11. Let’s see if the rumors are true.
Image from One Direction via YouTube
