One Direction fans already know that the guys are prepping a new album for Christmas, working with the same production and songwriting teams that created their first two albums, 2011's Up All Night and last year's Take Me Home. And from the sound of things, those sessions have been doing swimmingly.
In fact, according "frequent 1D collaborator/pal Ed Sheeran, the album's already finished. Though, for the first time, it won't feature any of his tunes not because he wasn't asked to contribute, but because he's just been too busy trying to wrap up his new record.
"I haven't done any songs on this one; I've actually kind of cut myself from giving any people songs at the moment, because I want to make my album," Sheeran said. "I was approached, and it wasn't so much a 'No,' it was just a 'I want to write tunes for myself at the moment.'
"Once my album's done, then we'll see," he added. "But their album is already finished."
Of course, it's not exactly clear what 1D album Sheeran was referring to: A spokesperson for their label, Columbia, told MTV News that "the guys are still very much working on their new album," and added that it wasn't the soundtrack to the group's upcoming "This Is Us" movie, either, since "there won't be one released with the film." At press time, there's still no firm release date for the group's new studio album, though we do know One Directoin will be re-teaming with McFly's Tom Fletcher and producer Julian Bunetta on the disc.
Last month, Bunetta told MTV News that he'd spent time with the guys in the studio, though he didn't reveal whether or not their collaborations would ever see the light of day.
"[We were] hanging out, working on a few new things," he said. "Obviously, we're working on new music, but they didn't say what the new music is for. It might be for nothing. It might only be for my ears ... or it might be something that gets put out for the world to hear."