One Direction is fine without you, Zayn Malik.
The band is getting ready to release their latest album, Made In The A.M, which the boys are pretty damn proud of.
"Obviously when you get the finished product, a voice that was there before isn’t there anymore, so obviously that’s different," Harry Styles told People. "But we set out to make a record that we felt is our best one, and we really have been really proud of the fact that we feel like we’ve done that."
Malik announced back in March that he was leaving the group to pursue solo projects. The four remaining members then had to balance touring with working on new music.
"It was a tough time," Niall Horan said. "We took 10 weeks of our tour to literally just go into the studio and spent that time in L.A. And a lot of time in London on writing. That’s probably why we’re so proud of it. "
Don’t expect any songs about Malik’s departure, though. The boys have moved on and are "stronger than ever," says Horan.
"This record is one where the four of us have contributed the most," Louis Tomlinson said.
"We were all in a position where we wanted to continue. When you lose a member of the team, of course that’s a hard thing to deal with, but actually what was kind of cool about the situation is we kind of knew that we had to bond together as a band at that stage and we actually really did that."
The band will take a year-long hiatus in 2016.
Made In The A.M. drops tomorrow, November 13th.