Niall Horan credits Olivia Rodrigo for a major shift in pop music

Niall Horan is gushing over Olivia Rodrigo's "big influence" on pop music.

​The former One Direction singer talked about how Olivia, whose third album You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love all set to be released in June, have changed the way pop music is written.

​Niall explained in an interview with Rolling Stone, referring to Olivia's album Sour and Guts, "It’s great to hear [bridges]. I feel like Olivia Rodrigo has been a big influence on that for pop writers.

​"What I like about Olivia’s music is [that] you feel like you’re getting one song and then you get a completely different song."

​He continued, "It completely flips on its head musically, goes somewhere different, brings you to a bridge, brings you to some weird musical breakdown thing.

​"Whatever [she] and Dan Nigro are up to is a good little team they’ve got going there. It’s definitely influencing people, including myself," Niall concluded, referring to Olivia's producing partner Dan Nigro.

​You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love's first single, Drop Dead, debuted on April 17.

​Niall is also dropping his new album Dinner Party, in June, revealing that he has taken inspiration from pop-punk bands such as Blink-182.

​He added, "That drum sound is something that we were trying to chase, and that comes from that late-'90s, early-2000s punk-rock era."

​Niall further recalled his childhood memories with music while sharing his future plans.

​"Rock’s been a big influence in my life since I was a child. I write pop songs, but dressing them up in a different way sometimes is quite cool. And now, the way my career is going, I’m completely thinking about live shows all the time. I learned so much from being on the road and being out there every night."