Earlier this week it came as a surprise to The Wantedās fans when the group announced that they were to take a break following their upcoming tour and new single Glow In The Dark.
Whilst the group havenāt exactly been scaling the heights of success with their recent album Word of Mouth, we didnāt think that they would be taking a break any time soon. If anything we expected them to head back to the studio and rediscover the magic that made them so popular with their first two albums.
Part of the problem is that as soon as Glad You Came blew up in the US, the group did a bit of a āCraig Davidā and focused most of their attention on the US leaving their UK fans behind. By the time the group returned to the UK with Word of Mouth, they had already released five singles from the record none of which had been particularly big hits.
The official line is that the group is taking a break to pursue solo ventures but will be coming back together as The Wanted in the future. The individual members of the band have insisted they will be releasing more material as The Wanted but do we believe them? It all smells a bit Girls Aloud for our liking and itāll likely depend on how their solo projects pan out.
Weāve put together some thoughts around what each of the guys could do next:
Nathan Sykes
Nathan is the obvious solo star from the group. Heās got the best voice out of the five and has already proven he can step out alone thanks to his touching duet with Ariana Grande. We want to see Nathan focus on the music and maybe weāll finally hear what heās capable of doing. He has a strong and soulful voice so weāre predicting that heāll have an album out within a year.
Max George
Max has already enjoyed a foray into modelling with Buffalo jeans so thatās definitely something he could explore further. There is a chance he could pursue a solo career too but weāre not sure what kind of sound he could go for that would be much different from The Wanted. Perhaps he should take a stab at acting and see if he can land a role on Coronation Street or Hollyoaks? We can imagine him shaking things up as a bad boy and with ex-girlfriend Michelle Keegan having left Corrie thereād be no awakwardness.
Siva Kaneswaran
Siva was a model before the group started and had some experience acting too. We see him forging a career in television as a presenter and weāll be very surprised if he does any solo music. Perhaps fronting a music show or a fashion/model type Sky Living venture could be the right career path for him?
Tom Parker
For Word of Mouth Tom got more involved in the writing side of things so perhaps he could move into songwriting during The Wantedās hiatus? Like Siva we canāt really see Tom as a solo star but behind the scenes he could still keep his fingers in the music industry and showcase his skills as a songwriter rather than singer.
Jay McGuiness
There is a chance that Jay could be the surprise solo success of the group. In The Wanted he keeps a lower profile than the other members but thereās no doubt that heādĀ probably be happier singer rockier tunes than he can in the band. Perhaps heās the groupās Robbie Williams and may launch a pop/rock career with the aim of being a bit more credible? Like Tom heās also ventured into songwriting so that could be a new career for him too.
What do you think the guys will do? Do you believe they will get back together as The Wanted or do you think this ābreakā is actually a break-up? Either way weāre sure a Greatest Hits will be on the shelves by the end of the year.