“ There’s a lot riding on Made in the A.M., an album that needs to sustain the groaning One Direction machine and serve as a satisfying goodbye to millions of obsessed fans, and yet it manages to sound relaxed. It tricks you into believing the stakes are low. The band’s been working with the same core group of songwriters since its first album, and there’s a comfort to be found in the structure and worn quality of these songs. Its remaining members sing with palpable joy and obvious enthusiasm for the kind of music they’re making. It sounds like it was a pleasure to make, not an ordeal. I listen to Purpose and feel Bieber and his collaborators on the other side of the screen, waiting for my reaction with bated breath. Hearing Made in the A.M. is like walking in on a bunch of friends goofing off around a campfire. That’s why I can see myself returning to the latter much more often, despite its resolute unfashionableness: the pressure’s high, but it sounds weightless. ”