The Show is the third studio album by Irish singer Niall Horan, released through Capitol Records on 9 June 2023. Musically, it draws from rock and synth pop genres. The album's lead single, "Heaven" was released on 17 February 2023, followed by "Meltdown" on 28 April 2023. The album topped the charts in eight countries. The deluxe version of the album, The Show: The Encore, is due for a 3 November 2023 release; the album was preceded by an alternate version of "You Could Start a Cult", featuring Lizzy McAlpine.
Background and recording
On 15 February 2023, Horan announced the album title and release date.
Whilst promoting the lead single, Horan told Rolling Stone: "What makes this record incredibly special to me is it's a reflection of where I am in my life today, as a person, a musician, and of course, as a songwriter," he explained in the video. "Can't say I'm not a little nervous, but hopefully you'll still like this version of me when you listen to the new record." Horan appeared Late Night with Seth Meyers and spoke about how his last album cycle for Heartbreak Weather was heavily impacted by a series of lockdowns in 2020, meaning that he was never able to tour the project. "I'd released an album the day we were told we were going into lockdown, um – some would say that was great timing! The tour got cancelled [...] So then I was sitting around waiting for something to happen, waiting for the creative juices to flow [...] Once it came it kind of opened a door for what is now a finished product, record."
In an interview with NME, Horan shared: "The last time I wrote an album I did less thinking. You don’t in your early 20s, you don’t think too much at all [...] I think with pandemics and relationships and things like that, you subconsciously grow as a person. And then production wise and what I’m saying [lyrically], it just sounds like something that a 30-year-old would release. Not a youthful version of what I did before."
Singles
"Heaven", was released on 17 February 2023 as the lead single. The song debuted at number 4 on the Irish singles chart, number 16 on the UK Official Top 100 and at number 63 in the USA on the Billboard Hot 100. "Heaven" official music video was released one week later. In Australia, "Heaven" peaked at number 30 on that country's singles chart. An acoustic version was released on 10 March 2023.
"Meltdown" served as the second official single from the album. It was released on 28 April 2023. "Meltdown" debuted at number 15 on the Official Irish Singles Chart Top 50 on 5 May 2023. In the United Kingdom, "Meltdown" debuted at number 62 on the UK Official Singles Chart Top 100 and debuted at number 48 on the UK Official Singles Downloads Chart Top 100 on 5 May 2023.
On the day of the album's release, the official music video of the song "The Show" was released. It was directed by Connor Brashier.
On 27 October 2023, Horan released "You Could Start a Cult", an alternate version from the album version, featuring American singer Lizzy McAlpine. The song will appear on the deluxe version of The Show: The Encore.
Promotion
In February 2023, Horan performed the "Heaven" chorus acoustically whilst appearing on the The Late Late Show with James Corden. He appeared on The Kelly Clarkson Show and discussed writing the song at a writer's camp. Horan appeared on The Jonathan Ross Show on 11 March 2023 and performed "Heaven" on that show. On 15 May 2023, Horan performed "Meltdown" on The Voice. On 16 June 2023, Horan released a live, acoustic video of album track "You Could Start A Cult". The video was filmed in California.
Tour
On 22 May 2023, Horan announced a 50-date tour promoting the album, which is set to visit Europe, Oceania and North America. Horan later added seven more dates due to high demand.