We now have a sense of what a One Direction without Zayn Malik sounds like. In the wee hours of Friday morning (July 31), 1D dropped its first new single from its FOUR follow-up, the bass-heavy anthem "Drag Me Down."

Moving away from the '80s-heavy influences on FOUR and Midnight Memories, "Drag Me Down" is a guitar-filled, emotional and empowering anthem. With lyrics filled about the No. 1 support system in your life and sticking around when no one else could. In a way, the single could be read as a letter to One Direction's dedicated fan base.

"All my life, you stood by me when no one else was ever behind me / All these lights, they can't blind me / With your love, nobody can drag me down," Liam Payne declares with a passionate determination in the chorus.

Musically, "Drag Me Down" is the epitome of an arena anthem with hand claps slowly building in the chorus that are sure to power the rest of 1D's On The Road Again Tour. The song also has one of the more fulfilling drops in One Direction's career, with a searing energy and intensity that fans are sure to respond to.

If this is One Direction without Malik, well, it's not so bad after all.

"Drag Me Down" is One Direction's new single and will presumably act as the lead single from the band's forthcoming fifth studio album. The follow-up to FOUR is due out by the end of the year.

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