The other One Direction boys seem to have already had their time in the sun as solo artists in their own right, but for Louis Tomlinson, that's all coming a bit later on.
Before recently, we hadn't really heard much from Louis. At least, not musically. But now his brand new single 'Back To You' with Bebe Rexha has landed, the dust has just about settled on the candid Observer interview in which Louis he often feeling like the unknown 'kid in the back' during the 1D days, it feels like Louis is slowly but surely making his stamp as one of the sincerest voices in the industry.
When Louis to chat about his long awaited new music, he explained that 'Back To You', the new song with not so subtle lyrics such as 'You got me cornered and my hands are tied', and 'Whoah, you stress me out, you kill me / You drag me down, you fuck me up / We're on the ground, we're screaming / I don't know how to make it stop', wasn't necessarily written to reflect his own personal experiences, for the record, but more about generally being in a relationship the has reached that level of extreme that has all played out in our heads at one point or another.
And if Louis hadn't already asserted himself as the most relatable ex-Directioner after opening up about feeling like the odd one out in the group, he also spoke about how, even after everything he's been through (having a baby included) that he doesn't quite feel like a grown up yet either: 'Having Freddy also comes with a lot of responsibility. I have a different head on when I’m with Freddy', he says.
'Naturally, from doing loads of travelling and meeting so many different people and crazy things that have happened, it does kind of give you a slightly different perspective on things but no I still feel very naïve to the world', Louis adds.
In the video, Louis talks a lot about the importance of authenticity, which is great. It's also super important to hear how much someone as famous as he is, talk about how much he values something as simple as honesty. He explains that the widely reported interview in the Observer was difficult to read back, but also that it was liberating to do. 'I look at other celebrities, artists, whatever industry they’re in. There seems to be this sort of "I’m going to be perceived this way, this is the character I’m going to play', Louis says. 'It's just something that I don’t advocate but also I’d never be able to pull off, so for me, it’s only about honesty and I think it’s important not just in our industry but just in general'.
Sure, the mystic of celebrity is part of the reason we find ourselves unable to read their stories or unfollow them on Instagram. But there's real value in people like Louis. People who, despite being put through the whirlwind that is being a global superstar, and still managing to discuss the things we never really hear about: insecurities, building an identity and the other aspects of life that remind us that musicians are just as human as the rest of us.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.