Fortune, it is often said, favors the brave. Some luck is always welcome, too.
For the creation of his third and most recent project, How Did I Get Here?, Louis Tomlinson had lashings of both.
On Thursday night, Jan. 22, the British pop singer stopped by NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to discuss the new album, and perform a song from it.
“This is the record where I felt really comfortable with it. And I felt really comfortable making it, I really enjoyed the process,” he told the talk-show host. “I even enjoyed doing the promo, which is a new thing for me.”
Some of the promo for How Did I Get Here? was accidental. Lucky, even. With the release of its first single “Lemonade,” Tomlinson played the cryptic game. His easter eggs, however, were inadvertently collected by Swifties. “It’s good watching people scramble for that stuff,” he remarked. “Another thing that was cool about it was Taylor Swift’s fans seemed to get a bit confused, thinking somehow it was related to her album. So, I got free promo.”
Tomlinson also reflected on his heady days with One Direction, and how those supercharged moments helped the kid grown into the man he is today.
“Every moment, every memory that I have with One Direction is incredibly special, obviously,” he recounted. Leaving a band like 1D, and those stadiums stacked with screaming fans, to go out on your own, “it’s quite intimidating,” he remarked. “It’s not for the faint hearted.”
He’ll do just that when he embarks on his global arena tour in support of the LP, starting March 23 at Barclays Arena in Hamburg, Germany, followed by a North America run that gets underway June 3 in Vancouver, Canada. “I definitely wouldn’t have made this record without that touring experience,” he noted. “It leaves me no room for self-doubt, every single night doing what I’m doing.”
Tomlinson wasn’t all talk with Fallon. He hung around for a performance of album cut “Imposter,” backed with a full band and a dash of new wave appeal — thick with bass and synth and, later, strobe effects (consider yourselves warned).
How Did I Get Here? (via BMG) dropped at midnight and is the followup to 2022’s Faith in the Future, which powered to No. 1 in the United Kingdom and No. 5 in the United States. How does it feel to finally share it with the world? “A real sense of relief, really,” he explained, “I’ve been sitting on it for a while now. A lot of anticipation, a lot of tension, and excitement too.”
On his forthcoming solo tour, “we share our success together, me and the fans,” he enthused. “I wouldn’t be playing those rooms without them. I wouldn’t be sat in this chair without them.” It’s all in the title, How Did I Get Here? Expect a “little bit of disbelief,” at the shows, “and a little bit of awe, too.”
Watch his late night performance below.