One Direction
One Direction are set to release their first album without Zayn Malik before Christmas PR shot

They are set to take a break but One Direction are making sure they go out with a bang. According to one of their music producers, the group have recorded a "sexually-charged" song for their upcoming fifth album, which will most likely be their raunchiest to date.

Before Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Liam Payne embark on a lengthy hiatus in 2016, the boys will be releasing their anticipated follow-up to Four, which will be their first record without former bandmate Zayn Malik. Teasing what fans can expect from the LP, producer Julian Bunetta says the new album will refer to most of the woes they have experienced recently, including their career and sex.

Bunetta told Billboard: "There's also a song about the band being on shaky ground and not knowing what the future is. There are songs about love, there's a song that is a little more sexually-charged – it's all over the map." If there are any Directioners hoping to uncover details on how Malik's departure really affected the group, they will be disappointed – Bunetta states the boys will not be discussing the scandal.

The producer revealed: "There's a song about losing someone that isn't Zayn." Horan, 21, and Tomlinson, 23, have confirmed reports that the boys will be taking some time away from the band after their On The Road Again tour wraps up. Bunetta says the band knew they would be taking a break when they started recording the yet-to-be titled fifth album. He said: "There was a feeling of, 'Well, we're going to take a break and anything in the world can happen during that time off'."

He added: "It's the first time of there being some uncertainty, of not having things planned out beforehand, since they were 16 years old. There was definitely a vibe of making [the album] the best it can possibly be and knowing it has to last as long as it needs to until we make another record – if we make another record."

Bunetta has worked extensively with the boy band, producing tracks for their last two albums, 2013's Midnight Memories and 2014's Four, as well as their latest record-breaking single Drag Me Down. The group's next LP is expected to be released before Christmas 2015.

Watch One Direction's Drag Me Down music video: