Walls is the eagerly waited solo debut album from Doncaster-born singer/songwriter and former One Direction member Louis Tomlinson. Ask Louis why he only recently felt ready to record a solo album and is only now itching to be back on stage and he'll tell you straight – the songs. His run of hits in 2017, including hugely successful collaborations with Bebe Rexha and Steve Aoki, were in retrospect a mere dipping of toes in the water. Temperature tested he made some decisions – Louis wanted to be an artist who had his own sound and something to say. Chasing chart positions and radio play had to take a back seat to making music that meant something to him and, in turn, to those all-important fans.

"There was definitely a process of understanding where I sit musically," says Louis. "I have my own tastes and, to a certain extent, they are fighting against the musical tide. "When I grew up, pop meant Arctic Monkeys, Oasis, The Killers and Amy Winehouse. Times change, obviously. Currently pop is very urban and street, which is not what I relate to. Sure, I could make those sort of songs, but they wouldn't feel like me. The puzzle was how to please both myself and the fans."

Joyous single "We Made It" is an ode to teen dreams and young love, which fuses both the euphoric indie influences of Louis's teen years with more contemporary electronic pop sounds. The track is inspired by stolen nights out in Manchester in the early days of One Direction. "Any time off I had, I'd go to Manchester for nights out with my mates," Louis explains. "It made me realise I didn't live in the real world anymore and I missed it. I loved being normal, reckless and stupid. It was the best escape. We'd stay up all night, talking about our dreams and what we thought would happen to us. That age is such an exciting time. You've no idea what the future holds, but you have so much potential. Where is my life headed? Who knows?"

Fellow single "Don't Let It Break Your Heart" is a simple and elegant ballad about resilience and taking time to heal after tough times, written by Louis with Stuart Crichton, Stephen Wrabel, Cole Citrenbaum and James Newman, and produced by Steve Mac. Louis says: "Don't Let It Break Your Heart is a song I'm really proud of. It's a song about hope and seeing the glass as half full."