It's been something that's been bubbling under for some time now, and today sees Nathan Sykes announce that he is officially embarking on a solo music career after The Wanted put their time on the shelf for the foreseeable future.
Nathan Sykes is going solo
Speaking to Hunger TV, he revealed that he had to "mature a lot quicker" than most when he was thrown into the music industry at the same time as taking his A-levels and doing college coursework.
"I wasn't the most confident song writer but grew quite a lot throughout my time in The Wanted and ended up writing two singles which I think has given me the confidence to write the majority of the album and be strong with my ideas and vision for the record."
With his goal and sights always set on being "in the music industry and to be successful for as long as I possibly can be", Nathan's excited about going solo and "can't wait to get back out on stage again."
Stating that he is still "classing this as a pop album" despite Hunger TV admitting they heard some "definite funk and soul there" in an early listen to some of the tunes, the singer-songwriter doesn't "necessarily think it's important to change people's perceptions", but he does "think it's exciting that people won't just see me as 'the young one in The Wanted'".
Ending up "baring my soul in a few of the tracks", there is a "love element" in many of the songs with Nathan recognising that "the time between the end of The Wanted and the start of my solo music" was "everything, and that I needed to take my time to create something that I have dreamed of making and something that I could be really proud of."
As a big fan of Sam Smith and Ed Sheeran as well as "the older stuff like Donny Hathaway, Marvin Gaye, Sam Cooke etc", he lists his inspirations as "Ryan Tedder, Jamie Cullum, Boyz II Men and John Legend".
On working with some of the biggest names in the business, Nathan added: "Working with Diane Warren and Babyface was two of the most surreal days of my life. There is never a dull moment with Diane and she is one of my favourite people on the planet and the session with Babyface produced probably the most honest and emotional song I've ever written!"