Niall Horan flickered like a star that he is when he finally dropped his solo debut album, titled "Flicker," on Friday. The singer-songwriter has been teasing at the release of his first studio album as a soloist since One Direction announced their indefinite hiatus in 2016.

Since last year, the Irish artist has released three tracks off the album, namely, "This Town," "Slow Hands" and "Too Much to Ask." Niall Horan has said that it took him a year and a half to finish the entire album that features a total of 10 songs, with all of which were co-written by the artist.

Niall Horan releases the first album as solo singer

He named Fleetwood Mac and the Eagles as his inspiration when he started producing "Flicker" in March 2016. "Whenever I would pick up a guitar, I would always naturally play chords like that, and finger pick a lot and play that folky kind of style," he explained.

Simultaneously, Niall Horan also released an acoustic version of the album's title track, "Flicker," that has left his fans with mixed emotions. The emotional version now has over 500,000 views on YouTube in less than 24 hours. "I'm crying but in a cool way," a fan wrote. Another one said, "This is something totally out of this world. Loved this."

Niall Horan did not forget to thank his fans after he saw the outpouring of support for his new music.

In a series of tweets, the singer-songwriter reassured them that he could feel their love for him and his debut album.

'Flicker' tops iTunes chart

Fans of the solo crooner even managed to list "Flicker" on Twitter's top trending topics.

On top of that, the album nabbed the number one spot on U.S. iTunes Sales Chart just a few hours after it was made available.

Niall Horan's "Flicker" has surpassed "Losing Sleep" by Chris Young and "A Long Way From Your Heart" by Turnpike Troubadours at second and third place, respectively.

In an interview with Rolling Stone, Niall Horan said the last track he wrote for the album was "Slow Hands." He added that the whole recording process for "Flicker" was entirely different from what he experienced in the past with One Direction.

The singer-songwriter also credited his friends for helping him throughout the production. He added that their contribution has made the album more personal. Similarly, his One Direction co-members Harry Syles, Liam Payne, and Louis Tomlinson have also released their own music since the band went on a hiatus.
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