Secrets are an essential part of the hit series Off Campus — and on the show’s newly released soundtrack, Off Campus: The Mixtape (Extra Credit). The team behind the project left Ella Bright, who stars as music major Hannah Wells, in the dark until the perfect moment came to reveal their own surprise twist: Niall Horan recorded vocals to turn her cover of the Foundations’ “Baby Now That I Found You” into an endearing duet.
The actress recorded her live reaction to the track, where Horan reveals the news to her: “You don’t know this yet, but you’re about to listen to our version of ‘Baby Now That I Found You,’” Horan says in the clip. The actress compared it to “This Town,” the debut solo single from Horan from the early post-One Direction days. “That’s my favorite song,” she said. “I’m obsessed. That’s so beautiful.”
“Ella is magnetic,” author Elle Kennedy told Rolling Stone earlier this year. “When you see her, you feel this joy. She’s so talented and she brought Hannah’s dedication to music.” Prime Video shared an official character playlist for Hannah tied to the shows release in May. Among the long list of songs were cuts from Olivia Rodrigo, the 1975, SZA, and of course, One Direction.
“Steal My Girl” and “Where Do Broken Hearts Go” from the band’s fourth studio album Four both appear on the playlist. “Music is everything to Hannah, and these songs helped me find and understand her voice,” Bright shared in the playlist description.
In the series, One Direction is something of a recurring minor character. In one episode, Josh Heuston’s character Justin performs the Take Me Home single “Kiss You” during a charity fundraiser. In another, a glimpse at Hannah’s Spotify shows a playlist entirely of 1D songs and she reminisces about writing “so eloquently about the harmonic vocal identities in the work of One Direction.”
“Baby Now That I Found You” marks the first release from Horan since sharing his fourth album, Dinner Party, earlier this year. “I like the slow evolution that we get to go on together,” he told Rolling Stone about the record. “That makes me excited for what the music is going to sound like in eight years’ time.”
