{"id":257307,"date":"2026-01-22T04:09:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T04:09:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/257307\/"},"modified":"2026-01-22T04:09:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T04:09:10","slug":"louis-tomlinson-under-blue-skies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/257307\/","title":{"rendered":"Louis Tomlinson: under blue skies"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is an excerpt from our March 2026 cover feature. You can pre-order the full issue, with the expanded Louis Tomlinson interview and full guest edited section right now. Head here to grab your copy.<\/a><\/p>\n

There\u2019s a Costa Rican phrase, \u201cpura vida\u201d, that translates to pure life. It\u2019s more than just a throwaway saying, however. It\u2019s a way of life. A conscious choice to be optimistic and laidback and put joy at the forefront of the life you live. If life isn\u2019t about chasing happiness, what exactly is the point?\u00a0<\/p>\n

The reverberations of that mantric notion are felt throughout Louis Tomlinson\u2019s third album, \u2018How Did I Get Here?\u2019. Whilst its title might conjure up vaguely existential, nostalgic sentiments, the record feels much lighter than that, thanks in part to the relaxed, carefree atmosphere Louis was craving this time around. Coming over three years after his sophomore offering, \u2018Faith in the Future\u2019, it was a record that he immediately knew would need the benefit of time and space to figure itself out.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Louis<\/p>\n

\u201cI took quite a while to make \u2018Walls\u2019, the first record,\u201d Louis explains over the phone, just a week before \u2018How Did I Get Here?\u2019 is unleashed on the world. \u201cI was really still working out who I was as an artist, and trying to work out who I liked working with. Because of that, I rolled pretty much from \u2018Walls\u2019 straight into \u2018Faith in the Future\u2019 in terms of writing. I didn\u2019t really give myself a rest like that, and I think creatively I needed one. <\/p>\n

\u201cI built up a lot of confidence on the tours that I did, and I wanted to feel that before I really started this record. You learn a lot on tour, both musically and on a confidence level. I felt ready to make this record, but I didn\u2019t want too much time constraint. That was not what this record was about. I wanted to try and do it in the most relaxed way possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe album has that feeling of tranquillity, and I love that\u201d<\/p>\n

In need of a looser environment, it made sense to chase that feeling to Santa Teresa, a luscious Costa Rican surf town where the pace of life is slower, and free-spiritedness is the name of the game. Having previously written predominantly in the UK, the sun-soaked location was a much-needed change of scenery that befitted his freshly confident, at-ease outlook and, in many ways, heightened it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I\u2019d been speculating after \u2018Faith in the Future\u2019, and thinking that I wanted some real time to make this record. I\u2019d heard that some people go to pretty beautiful locations to write and record; I definitely liked the sound of that,\u201d Louis says. \u201cWhen I was a young lad, I didn\u2019t buy into that hippy stuff. I really wouldn\u2019t have thought it\u2019d make any difference on the song, but it absolutely does. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s exciting to be in a place like that, especially when it looks so beautiful, and you\u2019re surrounded by nature and all of that stuff. Even the most cynical mind would be challenged in a space like that. That\u2019s really good for creating. I wanted to create this relaxed feeling, and in a place like that, there\u2019s so much tranquillity; it\u2019s really lovely. Those kinds of moments and those kinds of feelings shine through in the record, and that was really important to me. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn the back of my mind, there was still part of me thinking, \u2018Is it going to make much of a difference being in Costa Rica or being in a beautiful location?\u2019 And it absolutely does. The album at times has that kind of island feel, and that feeling of tranquillity, and I love that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was about really leaning into making the record that I always wanted to make\u201d<\/p>\n

Embodying that headspace meant that rather than pursuing an album that would please others, Louis was solely focused on doing what felt right to him. There\u2019s a line on \u2018On Fire\u2019, the second track on the album, where Louis sings: \u201cNo compromises, the only thing that matters is if I really like it\u201d. It\u2019s that sensibility that echoes throughout \u2018How Did I Get Here?\u2019 \u2013 it\u2019s about making an album that feels good, every step of the way, with no pandering or relenting.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy ear always goes to that line; it always makes me smile. I like that,\u201d Louis reflects. \u201cI think it also gives a sense of where I\u2019m at in my confidence, in my decision making and stuff like that. What I\u2019ve realised from what I\u2019ve done historically is that the more I do what I want, the more that resonates with the fans. I\u2019m a pretty black-and-white, honest guy, so those kinds of things feel true to who I am. It was about really leaning into making the record that I always wanted to make. I look back on \u2018Faith in the Future\u2019, and I\u2019m so, so proud of it, of course, but I was still putting limitations on myself at that point in my career, in my head. I was ready to make this record this time around.\u201d<\/p>\n

It seems he was not only ready to make this record, but also ready to make a record that feels distinctly different to its predecessors. It\u2019s more brash, more experimental, leaping into territory that would undoubtedly have been out of his comfort zone before. If \u2018Walls\u2019 and \u2018Faith in the Future\u2019 were the sound of a man finding his way, burrowing in and baring all to try and make sense of himself, \u2018How Did I Get Here?\u2019 sounds like surety. He\u2019s done the work along this journey, and now he\u2019s prepared to have some fun and see what else he can pull from up his sleeve.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read the full interview in the March 2026 issue of Dork. Louis Tomlinson\u2019s album \u2018How Did I Get Here\u2019 is out from 23rd January.<\/p>\n

\"Louis<\/p>\n

Order this issue<\/p>\n

This is a physical pre-order. All copies will be dispatched before 6th March 2026 at the latest.
Please make sure you select the correct location for your order. For example, if you are in the United States, select \u2018Location: US & Rest of the World\u2019. Failure to select the appropriate location for your delivery address will result in the cancellation of your order.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This is an excerpt from our March 2026 cover feature. You can pre-order the full issue, with the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":257308,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[93,61,60,278],"class_list":{"0":"post-257307","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-ie","10":"tag-ireland","11":"tag-music"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=257307"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257307\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/257308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=257307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=257307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=257307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}