One Direction

One Direction

One Direction's new album is "fantastic", according to Simon Cowell.

The record label boss believes the 'You & I' heartthrobs have at least six songs that could light up the charts on their upcoming fourth studio album which is due for release later this year.

Speaking to Capital FM, he enthused: "The album's fantastic. There's probably five or six tracks I've already heard that could be singles.

"There's some very different kinds of songs than what we've done before, they've taken a few more risks. Most importantly, the boys love writing, they love recording."

Simon also insisted the boy band - consisting of Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan, Liam Payne and Louis Tomlinson - aren't going to split up any time soon and he foresees them sticking together for the long haul.

He added: "I went on Twitter recently to say I don't think they're going to split up, they're having too good a time! I think they could be doing this five, 10, 20 years if they wanted to!"

Music producer Naughty Boy recently hinted a track he produced with Emeli Sandé, titled 'One Chance to Dance', could be One Direction's next single.

He said: "We wrote it with Emeli Sandé and it's a real progression for them. I've been told there's a big chance it's going to be the first single from their next album."