Nathan Sykes is ready to shed his boy-band image to become a solo pop star.

While The Wanted are taking a break, Nathan has decided to continue on with his music career and he's gearing up to release his debut album, which he describes as "soulful pop."

"I'm far too young to put on hold my music career," Nathan told MTV News by phone on Wednesday (Feb. 11). "I feel like I have a lot to give and I feel like I have a lot of music to write and a lot to prove as well."

And what Nathan wants to prove is that he's "more than just the young one from The Wanted," although he does admit that it was strange at first not recording with his bandmates.

Nathan decided to focus on "writing from the heart" and making an album that would feel "very personal." He teamed up with the right people, too, getting into the studio with hitmakers like Babyface and Diane Warren.

"There's a few different people that I write about. There's a couple of breakups that I write about and a few almost romances and what-not," Nathan revealed. "And there are a couple songs that talk about being in relationships as well, so it's going to be quite funny when people start to listen to the lyrics."

To spare some of you the guessing game, Nathan -- whose first single will drop this spring -- confirmed that one of the songs on the album is about his 2013 relationship with Ariana Grande, who he collaborated with on the track "Almost Is Never Enough."

"I'm one of those really annoying people for exes, like, I don't hold grudges whatsoever. And I am one of the people who only takes really positive experiences from relationships and moves forward with it," he said. "So it's a really nice song even though it is quite heartbreaking. It's got a really nice message with it. It's just the song that [says] you can't be angry at any situation because sometimes things just don't work out and you've just got to roll with it and move on."

Seems like Nathan really has gotten over the "heartbreaking" situation and couldn't be happier for his former GF.

"Honestly, I'm so proud of her and so excited for her as well," Nathan told me. "Like watching the Grammys, I know that for her to be nominated and to perform at the Grammys as well is stuff that she's always dreamed of and I was just so happy for her."