As the clock ticks down to the release of Louis Tomlinson’s debut solo album Walls, the singer on Friday released the title track.
“It’s about coming home having been on tour, soon after the band had split,” the former One Direction member explained, in a release. “I found some of my girlfriend’s clothes in the cupboard and it hit me what I’d done.
“I love the indie sound of the song and its circular nature – it opens and closes with the same lyric.” That lyric? “Nothing wakes you up like waking up alone.”
Tomlinson said he was genuinely moved during the recording of the track. "I pretend not to be romantic, but I am,” he said. “It really hit home when I was in the studio to hear the strings being recorded. There must have been 25 musicians in there, all for my song.
“It was a proper tear-jerking moment already and I’ve never felt a shiver like it.”
“Walls” is one of 12 songs on Tomlinson’s debut, which drops Jan. 31. He is the last member of One Direction to release an album of his own music – but he insisted it was worth the wait.
“I know I’ve made an album that my fans will like, one that sounds like me and has its own identity,” the 28-year-old explained. “There were times I wasn’t sure if this was what I should be doing. Now I can’t imagine doing anything else.”
Tomlinson will be on tour later this year and is scheduled to stop June 12 at Rebel in Toronto and July 23 at the Orpheum in Vancouver.
Listen to “Walls” below: