One Direction surprise fans with new single Drag Me Down day after Zayn Malik signs solo record deal
One Direction started the weekend early for fans by releasing their new single Drag Me Down.
It marks the first song that the band have released since Zayn Malik quit in March.
It will be the lead single from their upcoming fifth studio album which is set for release later this year.
The boys surprised fans with the treat this morning, with Liam Payne tweeting: “Bit of a surprise ! Check out our new single! It’s called Drag Me Down & I hope you love it as much as we do.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Bit of a surprise ! Check out our new single! It’s called Drag Me Down & I hope you love it as much as we do <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.awin1.com/awclick.php?mid=9&id=222025&p=https://t.co/HPJn2Kij5M" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-394206-https://t.co/HPJn2Kij5M" data-vars-event-id="c23">https://t.co/HPJn2Kij5M</a>— Liam (@Real_Liam_Payne) <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/Real_Liam_Payne/status/626983852678877185" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-394206-https://twitter.com/Real_Liam_Payne/status/626983852678877185" data-vars-event-id="c23">July 31, 2015</a>
Louis Tomlinson also tweeted the single telling fans: “We wanted you guys to have our new single first so here it is!
“Thank you for all your constant support. Hopefully you love it , we're proud of it :).”
Niall Horan - who also tweeted the news - spoke to the Capital FM Breakfast show where he revealed that “most of the album is written and a lot of it is recorded.”
The new song comes a day after former band mate Zayn Malik confirmed his solo career.
Malik, 22 – who quit the world famous boy band in March – posted a black and white picture of himself signing a contract with RCA Records.
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-version="4"><div><div><div /></div><a rel="nofollow" href="https://instagram.com/p/5u8IVcQj6h/" target="_blank" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-394206-https://instagram.com/p/5u8IVcQj6h/" data-vars-event-id="c23">"I guess I never explained why I left , it was for this moment to be given the opportunity to show you who i really am! #realmusic #RCA !!"</a>A photo posted by niazkilam (@zaynmalik) on <time datetime="2015-07-29T20:26:59+00:00">Jul 29, 2015 at 1:26pm PDT</time></div>
Alongside the image on Instagram he wrote: “I guess I never explained why I left, it was for this moment to be given the opportunity to show you who i really am! #realmusic #RCA !! ... #REALME.”
Simon Cowell was quick to offer his support but his former band mates have yet to congratulate him.
