One Direction weighs in on releasing 'Made in the A.M.' same day as Justin Bieber's 'Purpose'

Whether he’s making faces on Snapchat or chatting with radio show hosts, Justin Bieber has had plenty to say about the fact that his new album drops the same day as One Direction’s next offering. Over the weekend, 1D’s Harry Styles and Niall Horan followed suit and opened up about taking on the Biebs.

“I think the press have just made a big of a deal out of it because it’s us and Justin Bieber,” Horan told Coup de Main. “It’s fine. You know you’re gonna be up against someone in the charts — it just happens that we have fallen on the same day.”

Styles added that when the boy band put together Made In The A.M., they didn’t intend for the faceoff. “I don’t think anyone makes a record with competing with someone else in mind. I think then you don’t make it for the right reasons,” he told the New Zealand-based magazine. “I think we made the record — we’re very, very happy with it, we’re very proud of it — and now we’re putting it out, and it happens to be on the same day as someone else, and that’s it.”

“It’s not a win/lose thing,” he continued. “It’s, we hope that our fans like it, and if it does well that would be amazing, but that’s not ultimately what it’s about.”

One Direction’s Made In The A.M and Bieber’s Purpose will both hit stores Nov. 13.

For the full interview with Noran and Styles, head to Coup de Main.