For everyone who isn’t quite as familiar, this is what One Direction’s legacy currently looks like: After the rebel Zayn Malik, who left the British boy band to get off to a fabulous vertical start with the global hits “Pillowtalk” and the Taylor Swift duet “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever”, only to shortly afterwards overwhelm his fans with the aptly titled double album ICARUS FALLS and drive his solo career to the wall, All eyes and ears were on ex-colleague Harry Styles. He has long been operating at least on a par with his predecessors in the spirit of George Michael and Robbie Williams.
In the shadow of this global phenomenon, sprouts like the solo work of another former One Direction member, Louis Tomlinson, are flourishing. The 33-year-old definitely has something to say – to us, even if the title of his third album sounds like navel-gazing. The message of HOW DID I GET HERE? is: The glass is and remains half full – that may seem banal, but Noel Gallagher never had much more to tell us.
Tomlinson has lost his mother, his sister and a close companion in Liam Payne in just a few years – and yet created a record that feels like a day at Club Tropicana. The euphoric “Palaces” would also have looked good in the indie disco of the noughties, “Jump The Gun” flirts with the Chili Peppers, “Broken Bones” can also include a “Fuck It” and “Lucid” is an approximation of a “Champagne Supernova” of teen pop. Although always aimed at hooks, not every song stays in your memory. In any case, it is worth following this career path. Because Louis Tomlinson wants something. Above all, be yourself. And that really isn’t a given after years of child labor in the world’s spotlight.
This review appears in Musikexpress 2/2026.