"What a Feeling" is a song recorded by English-Irish

boy band A boy band is a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their Teenage, teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform love songs marketed towards girls and young women. Many boy bands ...

One Direction One Direction, often shortened to 1D, were an English-Irish pop boy band formed in London in 2010. The group consisted of Niall Horan, Zayn Malik (until his departure in 2015), Liam Payne, Harry Styles, and Louis Tomlinson. The group sold o ...

for their fifth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

, ''

Made in the A.M. ''Made in the A.M.'' is the fifth and final studio album by English-Irish boy band One Direction, released on 13 November 2015 by Columbia Records and Syco Music. It was the band's only album without Zayn Malik, who left the group eight months ear ...

'' (2015). The song was released as the album's second

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on iTunes Store and

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on 11 November 2015.

Background

Tomlinson stated that "What a Feeling" is "one of the songs that just does give you kind of a completely different flavor to maybe what you're used to... the whole feel of the song is 'feel good'." Payne also added that it was one of his favorites from ''Made in the A.M''. He later told the fans on an

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video that the song was made to be played in a stadium. Fans of the band held a so-called streaming party on October 25, 2020, where they all listened to the track during the whole day. The goal was to get the song on the top 100 charts. Thanks to it, the song got over 50 million streams on that day alone.

Composition

It was written and produced by

Jamie Scott James Christopher Needle (born 12 February 1984), known professionally as Jamie Scott, is an English singer, songwriter and producer. Career Songwriting As a writer and producer Scott has sold over 100 million albums, 50 million singles, has ...

and co-written by band members

Liam Payne Liam James Payne (29 August 1993 – 16 October 2024) was an English singer and songwriter. He was a member of the pop band One Direction, one of the best-selling boy bands of all time, alongside Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Harry Styles, and Loui ...

and

Louis Tomlinson Louis William Tomlinson ( ; born 24 December 1991) is an English singer, songwriter, and fashion designer. Born and raised in Doncaster, England, Tomlinson auditioned for British singing competition ''The X Factor'' as a solo artist in 2010, w ...

along with Daniel Bryer and

Mike Needle Mike Needle (born 4 June 1986) is an English songwriter, producer and singer. He has co-written songs for artists such as One Direction, Rita Ora, Tom Grennan, Niall Horan, Rag'n'Bone Man, Alan Walker (music producer), Alan Walker, James TW & J ...

. According to Tomlinson, the track has a "

Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac are a British-American Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1967 by the singer and guitarist Peter Green (musician), Peter Green. Green named the band by combining the surnames of the drummer, Mick Fleetwood, and the bassis ...

influence." The song has been described as

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

and upbeat.

Reception

While writing for ''Billboard'', Erin Strecker described the song as having "a sweetly thumping bass line and light harmonies," and added, "the tune would feel perfectly at home in the easy, breezy '70s." Hardeep Phull of ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates three online sites: NYPost. ...

'' stated that the track "blends Fleetwood Mac-style harmonies with a silky smooth, '80s pop sheen." Maggie Malach of ''

Bustle A bustle is a padded undergarment or wire frame used to add fullness, or support the drapery, at the back of women's dresses in the mid-to-late 19th century. Bustles are worn under the skirt in the back, just below the waist, to keep the skir ...

'' felt that the lyrics were "all over the place, but it's still all sorts of fantastic." She also added, "the hazy vibe of the song more than makes up for it." In ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'''s special ''Reader's Poll'', "What a Feeling" topped #1 as one of the best songs One Direction ever released.

Charts

References

{{One Direction One Direction songs 2015 singles Syco Music singles 2015 songs Songs written by Liam Payne Songs written by Louis Tomlinson Songs written by Jamie Scott Songs written by Dan Bryer Songs written by Mike Needle