During an appearance on 'Today', the One Direction member admits to needing 'a good 18 months' to work out exactly what his sound was when he work on his debut solo album 'Walls'.
- February 3, 2020
AceShowbiz - Louis Tomlinson channelled the heartache of his family tragedies into the songwriting process for his debut solo album "Walls" to turn the negative experiences into "something good".
The One Direction star was left devastated in March, 2019 when his 18-year-old sister, Felicite, died from an accidental drug overdose, just over two years after losing their mother, Johannah Deakin, to leukaemia in December, 2016.
Tomlinson, who had already paid tribute to his mum on the touching single "Two of Us" last year, has since assured fans he is in a "good place" emotionally, and part of his healing process involved using his creativity as a form of therapy.
"I think what's amazing about songwriting is that sometimes you can take a negative and spin it into a positive, and all of a sudden, you've got something good from it," he shared on U.S. breakfast show "Today".
Tomlinson is the last member of One Direction to drop a solo album following the boy band's hiatus in early 2016, but the singer admits he needed to take his time to find his own sound.
"It took me a second to get it right, really," he said. "I think I had to develop for a good 18 months really, and tread water and work out exactly what my sound was, but I feel like I've landed there now, and I'm really happy."
"Walls" was released on Friday (January 31), and Tomlinson is overwhelmed by the huge wave of support he's already received for the album.
"I'm blown away," he gushed. "It's just another one of those examples where the fanbase show just how strong they are and how loyal and passionate (they are). It's been an emotional 12 hours for me, it's been a long time coming."
