17 November 2025
Newsdesk
Louis Tomlinson joined Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1 to celebrate the release of his new track ‘Palaces’. Louis and Zane discuss the new track, how Louis took some risks with his forthcoming album ‘How Did I Get Here?’, going solo and how he’s dealt with the past few years.
Louis Tomlinson on his new track Palaces…
Yeah, this is kind of where we left off on the last record with Faith in the Future, to be honest, kind of the glue between the two records, the last one and the new one. But also really in line with the kind of stuff I love listening to, the kind of stuff I love singing, love performing. It all came together pretty quickly, to be honest. I think just because, this kind of stuff is a bit more self explanatory to me. I tried to take a few more risks on the album in general, but this was me doing something that I really, really love. And I think hopefully, you can feel that.
Louis talks about taking risks on his new album…
Just taking more risk in general, and you need confidence to do that. And I definitely built up a lot of confidence from the tour shows I've played recently. You know what it's like. I left One Direction and you want to spread your wings and show who you are as an artist. And those things are really important, but the motivation behind those ideas is often not correct. And I think from this album, I was ready to embrace all the things that used to scare me. So doing anything innately pop and down the middle used to really scare me because I didn't want to get put in the same box that occasionally we would get put in as a band, instead of actually putting myself and the music first. And I think this is the first time I've realised that I've got it the wrong way around. The bravest thing I could do is completely embrace all of those pop sensibilities. So there's a different intention with this record, I'd say.
Louis on going solo..
It's only recently that I've been able to embrace those ideas, and I think the tour did that for me. You're staring in the face every single night, a contrary idea to the voice in your head that's saying, "Maybe you can't do this on your own," and all of that that I had when I was young and I started out on my own after the band. And the more I do it, the more confident I get. There's just not really much room for those kind of things. So the pressure's still there and I still get really nervous with the shows and stuff, but I was really excited to make this record, and I think you can hear that. It's a more confident approach.
Louis Tomlinson on dealing with the past few years…
Yeah, I appreciate you asking. I'm pretty resilient, man. That doesn't underestimate some of the stuff that I've had to deal with and some of the tough things. But I'm pretty resilient and I'm at a point in my life now where, I don't want to say nothing can faze me, but I've had a lot on my plate, so I'm ready to enjoy life. So that's kind of what this record is about celebrating. It's about getting out the other side of something a little bit dark and celebrating that.
