Music Review: Niall Horan throws a ‘Dinner Party’ for those in love

Music Review: Niall Horan throws a ‘Dinner Party’ for those in love

NEW YORK (AP) — He met her at a “Dinner Party.” It's not enough to call it a concept album, but former One Direction boy bander and Irish singer Niall Horan's fourth studio album, “Dinner Party,” grounds itself in love songs about his longtime partner, who he met at the get-together. If the title track is the crux of the release, the message is clear: This is a breezy 12-track collection that makes settling into a long-term relationship sound effortless. It's why the chorus repeats and repeats, and verses are cut short to get to the good stuff. “Crashing lights when you first saw me,” he sings. “Yeah, I met you at a dinner party.” The rest is history.

And it continues throughout the album's polish, from the dreamy guitar pop of “Monochromatic” and slow-burn “She Gets It from Her Mother” to the yacht rock silliness of “Boys Are Fun" and romantic bass of “Flowers.” (The story behind the later? The line “No, you don’t know your powers / Swear your eyes could grow flowers” was lifted from a fan who tweeted a similar line at Horan. Talk about fan service.) The hooks are prevalent, if not earwormy.

But only gloss would slip in and out of a listener's memory. To counteract any weightlessness, Horan suffuses doubt. Like on the acoustic ballad “Better Man,” where stacked self-harmonies offer tense vulnerability: “I would understand," he sings, "If there was a better man.”

Or he opts for a newfound edge — the profanity of “Pretty,” with its gorgeous guitar riff — or sonically, like on opener “Tastes So Good,” which draws subtle influence from pop-punk. There, it's palm-muted power chords and drums loud in the mix, channeling Blink-182 member Travis Barker's idiosyncratic style.

As political jockeying begins, don’t forget job No. 1

The goal, for all parties in a democracy, is to make the best legislation and bring in the strongest policy forward for voters and citizens.

Woman took ‘meaningful’ responsibility after disposing of body: lawyer

A woman who was threatened with death if she didn’t help dispose the body of a Mexican man murdered in the basement of a North End home should serve no more jail time, a judge has been told.

Devlin Langlois, 25, has pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact to murder in the March 2025 killing of 28-year-old Diego Moscoza.

“By pleading guilty, Ms. Langlois has already taken meaningful accountability for her actions,” defence lawyer Joshua Rogala told King’s Bench Justice Candace Grammond at a sentencing hearing Monday.

He urged the judge to sentence Langlois to the equivalent of 14 months already served, plus two years supervised probation.

Man accused of killing five family members fires second legal team, but murder trial won’t be delayed, judge warns

A Manitoba man accused of killing five family members is once again looking for new lawyers to represent him at trial.

But Ryan Manoakeesick will stand trial, with or without a lawyer in April 2027, a judge warned him Thursday.

“I want to be clear, Mr. Manoakeesick, that the trial dates that have been set are going to remain,” King’s Bench Justice Candace Grammond told him. “Those trial dates are effectively written in stone.

“You may think that is a long time in the future, but in a trial of this kind you need to make sure you have appropriate representation and you will be ready to attend to the matter on that date.”

Jets bench boss Arniel talks rebuilding from last season’s struggles

Scott Arniel has a lot on his plate these days.

But the head coach of the Winnipeg Jets took some time Thursday to sit down with Free Press hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe to discuss a number of topics on the eve of a new hockey season. This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Wiebe: What was the evaluation of last season like? What did you personally do in an attempt to improve after going from first-overall to 26th-overall?

I just went back and looked at things and made sure my communication was where it needed to be with my players. Was my communication where it needed to be with my boss, with my general manager (Kevin Cheveldayoff)? How our coaching staff worked. How we handled highs and lows. Things I felt I could have done better.

Gillingham talks trash, pledges big bin boost

Scott Gillingham says he would add hundreds of locked garbage bins downtown to prevent unsightly trash piles if re-elected as mayor.

Gillingham led a program that added about 120 locked garbage bins along Portage Avenue and Main Street last fall, after trash was repeatedly strewn around the area. If he wins a second term, he plans to add at least 200 more of the receptacles.

A look at how one locked Main Street recycle/garbage bin in front of city hall fared offers an example of the bins’ success so far, he said.

“Every day, you would see the lids up, and people had been rifling through it, or someone left the lid up and the wind picked up the garbage and (spread) it everywhere. It’s much more difficult now. Once the garbage is in, the garbage stays in,” said Gillingham.