It’s been quite some time since the guys of One Direction have given us new music they made together as a band – now that they’re all living that solo life. This hiatus is clearly a long one, but for fans, it really has been a treat to see Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, Liam Payne, and yes, even former member Zayn Malik‘s unique and totally different music come out. Louis, as we know, is back at his X Factor roots currently serving as a judge this season and has Directioners wondering, when exactly is his solo album going to be released? 

Speaking to BCC Radio 2’s Saturday Breakfast with Dermot, the 26-year-old signer made it clear that he’s hard at work on his solo material and in time, the full-album will be released. Basically, it’s just a totally different vibe than how he worked on writing songs for 1D.

“It’s been a long process. I feel like I’ve been doing this album for a long time. I’m also used to what we did in the band and it was six months of writing and then boom, boom, boom. So it’s taking a little bit longer than I anticipated, but I’m a proper perfectionist. I’ve got the bulk of the album and there’s just another couple of songs I know I need to write and I’m waiting to write,” Louis explained. “It’s more personal now. It’s almost easier to write in that sense knowing it was a little bit more open whereas now, they’re most pressure on me saying this is who I am really so I’m feeling that. But I enjoy that, definitely.” 

If anything, writing these songs and solely reflecting the inner workings of his thoughts and feelings isn’t as easy as it was whipping up tunes for the band as a whole. That’s understandable when you think about it! So far, he’s given us “Just Hold On,” “Back to You”, “Miss You,” and “Just Like You,” all songs that sonically and lyrically are much different from each other and further prove how hard Louis is working to make solid jams that are unlike what he’s given fans before in the One Direction days. And this time, it’s all just him and what he wants to say as an artist. He has been balancing time in the studio with his new gig as an X Factor judge, cranking out new songs for his debut album that will be coming eventually.

He also made it clear he wants to make sure the album has a lot of songs on it for his fans to enjoy. 

“I want it to be a value for money. There will be as many tracks as I can get on there, to be honest,” he said, saying around 18 tracks is what he’s looking at now, kind of what a deluxe album would be like.

WE’RE READY WHEN YOU ARE, LOUIS.

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