One Direction Drops Its First Single Without Zayn Malik

Directioners around the world are all attached to their headphones this morning as One Direction surprised everyone with dropping their new single, “Drag Me Down,” overnight.

It’s a big moment for the band — it’s the first song that One Direction has come out with since Zayn Malik split from the group earlier in March. His sudden departure happened right in the beginning of the “On the Road Again” tour. The remaining four band members, Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, and Louis Tomlinson have remained loyal to the band and have just begun the American leg of their fourth tour.

The new track is written by Julian Bunetta, John Ryan and Jamie Scott and produced by Ryan and Bunetta. The single is available on iTunes as well as streaming services such as Spotify.

The boys opened up on Twitter about their new single,

“Harry’s excited to share #DragMeDown with all of you! http://t.co/orEz8bKrm3 https://t.co/mQ0Dp765Io”

— One Direction (@onedirection) July 31, 2015

“HEY GUYS! So, #DragMeDown dropped earlier! Check out what the guys had to say about it. https://t.co/Z2E32BMjn1″ — One Direction (@onedirection) July 31, 2015

What has Zayn Malik been up to in the wake of his former bandmates releasing new music? Signing his own solo contract with RCA records! While it doesn’t come as a huge surprise, it is a little strange that Zayn originally stated that the reasoning behind his split from 1D was to be “a normal 22-year-old.” From what we can all see, it looks like he’s wanted to have his own solo career for some time now. Most 22-year-olds are scrambling to find a job, not signing million dollar recording contracts.

“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 !!” the English singer wrote on Twitter.

Good luck to Zayn on his new endeavor and congrats to One Direction for their awesome new single!

Image: Via One Direction Music