Throughout this very long One Direction hiatus, fans have been lucky enough to get solo music from each of the guys – and even an album from Harry Styles. Now Niall Horan is ready to join Hazza in the leagues of debuting a solo album, and naturally it wouldn’t be official with some kind of interview to bring it all full circle. Having a FaceTime chat with Zane Lowe on Apple’s Beats 1 Radio, the “Slow Hands” crooner talked about everything from album title inspiration to how his mom felt about hearing the album for the very first time.

Spoiler alert! What Niall’s mom Maura Gallagher, had to say is pretty much the typical parent response. The “This Town” singer revealed that when he finally brought his mom into the studio to hear the album – which was still in it’s rough stages, he had to “spend a bit more time with it.” Zane then jokingly asked the singer if the album was the kind that grew on you with a few listens, to which he laughed and replied “no.”

“I think it’s the initial excitement of hearing a new song, but I swear to God, I could sing ‘Happy Birthday’ for 12 minutes and she would probably love it,” he continued to say. She’s not the only one who could listen to a 12 or 30-minute rendition of that song or anything else he wants to sing and think it's best thing ever.

That’s not all he dished about. The Irish heartthrob also shared his favorite track off the album, and no surprise it’s “Flicker.” He revealed, “I remember after two or three takes, everyone was sort of sitting around and looking at the wall like ‘oh my god, this is quite the pretty song.’ And I would say the same. We took a break and no one spoke to each other and it was great.” Woah! That’s just how powerful the song is, no one wanted to speak after hearing it for the first time.

Of course it wouldn’t be an interview without him touching on 1D, and although he didn’t exactly share details about a reunion, Niall admitted that he knows nothing either of the guys do on their own will compare to what they did as a group. He dished, “I know in my heart of hearts that no matter what any of us do individually it will never be as big as One Direction.” We find that a little hard to believe especially since fans are extremely supportive of each of their solo endeavors. They're all killing it on the charts right now, and we have a feeling they will be as a group and on their own.

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