Louis Tomlinson - Topic ★

More than anything, Louis Tomlinson is a storyteller, and he's finally telling his story on his third full-length LP, How Did I Get Here? “I sum it up as ‘The record I always deserved to make’. For the first time, I’m allowing myself to be the artist I’d always hoped to be.” For his third album Louis has pushed himself as a lyricist, songwriter, and performer, holding nothing back on these tracks. Live, he leaves everything on the stage as sold-out crowds meet him head-on with the same amount of enthusiasm and energy. As a writer, he’s diving deeper into who he is than ever before. This time around, Louis assembled a handful of initial ideas in the English countryside before decamping to Santa Teresa in Costa Rica for three weeks in early 2025. He dove into writing and recording alongside primary collaborator and co-producer Nico Rebscher [Aurora, Alice Merton]. The atmosphere of his surroundings underscored the ensuing body of work. “I’ve always wanted to make a record somewhere tropical,” he goes on. “It had to sound sunny and warm in order to represent the shift in confidence. Santa Teresa is a slow-paced and beautiful surf town, and I can hear it in the songs. On my first two records, I defied anything I thought would be too ‘pop’. That’s all well and good, but I realized the most confident thing I could do was embrace my heritage in a way that speaks to me. So, I’m marrying those two worlds.”