The ’80s rock duo The Proclaimers looked a little different on the March 11 episode of The Late Late Show. That’s because instead of twins Craig and Charlie Reid, singer Niall Horan, 26, and talk show host James Corden, 41, joined forces to become the new “Proclaimers” in an elaborate skit that aired on Wednesday night’s show. Whenever a situation needed to be diffused — a hostage scenario, a victim needing to be revived and a man about to jump off a building — Niall and James would be sent it, singing, of course, “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles).” Da, da, da will never quite sound the same again.
Niall returned to his original music at the end of the show to put on a live performance of his new song, “No Judgement”! Instead of staying glued to a stage, however, Niall practically traveled 500 miles as he delivered his song while taking a walking tour throughout the expansive The Late Late Show set. Niall is taking this one-week residency seriously: from a skit about hot wings to two other live performances, the former One Direction member has been making sure James’ viewers are thoroughly entertained.
The performances, the skits, and the adventures were all done to hype up the release of Heartbreak Weather, his second album. If Niall’s enthusiasm while on stage was infections, it’s because he’s in his happy place when he’s singing. “I love playing live,” Liam told The Line Of Best Fit. “It’s my number one thing. I’d mad into going to gigs. If I see on Spotify that a band I love is playing near where I live, I’m gonna go to it. Some of my favourite artists of all time are still touring – look at Bruce Springsteen and The Eagles. If the music’s good enough, I’d love to be one of those artists in years to come. So yeah, I want a good mix of songs in my live show. I want people to cry when they need to cry, but I also want people to sway and put the lights on their phones or whatever they do. But I also want people to rip the roof off the venue when they need to.”
He also explained why he decided to drop “No Judgement” right before Heartbreak Weather’s release. It’s the lead-in single, following “Put a Little Love On Me” and the first cut from the album, “Nice To Meet Ya.” Niall said that “No Judgement” is the direction where he wants to go next.
“‘Nice to Meet Ya’ was the obvious song to come back and make a bit of noise with,” he told The Line OF Best Fit. “But this song kind of sums up the whole album in terms of the electric guitar sound and the groove and feel of it. And then the lyric is a great message: it’s something I want people to hear. I think the first line of the chorus is: ‘When you’re with me, no judgment, you can get that from everyone else.’ We all just seem to love judging each other – giving sh-t to each other online, just being sh-t to each other. So it’s kind of like an arm-round-the-shoulder type song, but with a bit of attitude to it. It’s got a ‘come on over to my house’ sexy element to it because it’s a true story. It’s about this situation where we don’t have to explain to each other why we keep on going in and out of each others’ lives because it just happens.”
im gonna have 500 miles stuck in my head for the next week now thanks sjdhdj #LateLateNiall @NiallOfficial @latelateshow
— jess ⚯͛ (@needytommo) March 12, 2020
When asked if there were any goals with Heartbreak Weather, Niall kept it blunt and real. “I’d love another number one – that would be amazing if I could f-cking match what I did with the first album. I feel like the music on this one is better,” he told Best Fit. “I also hope that people see my songwriting has got better because it has. So, just small little goals really, though I’ll take a Grammy nomination as well!”