Liam Payne: 1D break will give me chance to take my time writing

Liam Payne is excited to concentrate on songwriting during One Direction's hiatus.

The singer and his bandmates broke fans' hearts when they announced they would be taking a break from the music industry following the release of their fifth studio album, Made in the AM, which will be available from Friday (13Nov15).

While there have been suggestions that the hiatus will ultimately lead to a permanent split, the boys have insisted their work as a band is not finished.

Liam was joined by bandmates Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Harry Styles for a performance on BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge on Thursday (12Nov15), and he told host Greg James all about his intentions for the One Direction break, revealing, "Obviously we're all going to take a break for a bit first and then consider where we are in the world.

"Then I just want to write songs. That's been the most fun process out of this, except for touring, the writing of the songs.

"We're going to come back, so there's something to write for as well, for us and for other people. We haven't really had time to write an album. Writing's not really a job, it's so much fun. We've always had to rush it, so it's going to be nice for the next two years - I'm going to write a few songs and see what happens."

The boys are all heading in different directions during their time apart. While Liam will be focusing on writing, Harry is reportedly considering moving into the acting field, Niall is hoping to find success as a professional golfer and Louis is setting up his own record label.

"We'll probably team up and do a bit of writing together and then I've got the little imprint thing," Louis explained. "I'll probably be trying to find some people to scout up (sign to his record label).

"I'm going to take over the world of music and Niall's becoming a golf pro."

One Direction performed their tracks Drag Me Down, Perfect, Story of my Life, Town and Infinity in the Live Lounge, as well as covering Kanye West, Rihanna, and Paul McCartney's FourFiveSeconds and Natalie Imbruglia's Torn.