#indiependent

11 November saw the return of Louis Tomlinson with his long-awaited sophomore album, Faith In The Future, ending a two-year wait that seemed to last an eternity. Everyone has been raving about the deluxe drop’s extended 16 tracks. Faith In The Future follows the hypnotising success of his 2020 debut album, Walls, and serves as the British extraordinaire’s stepping stone into a new era and illustrates an assured step forward, both sonically and artistically. This further solidifies as the 30-year-old Brit-pop musician achieved his first solo Number 1 album after a challenging week-long battle with Bruce Springsteen, thanks to his massive loyal fans who have been inundating him with praise, admiration, and unwavering support since its release.

Speaking to OfficialCharts.com, he said, “My album is Number 1 on the Official Charts – I can’t quite believe I’m saying that. I just want to say a massive, massive thank you for all the incredible support the fans have shown me in the last week and my whole career. This is an absolute honour and not necessarily something I saw coming. Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

Faith in the Future is a genre-spanning album with a diverse soundscape devised for a live setting on an arena tour. For an album written and produced during the pandemic across two years, it feels anything but isolated or withered—thanks to Tomlinson’s multifaceted songwriting strengths, which have endured the test of time while remaining unapologetically true to himself as his confidence shines throughout, bringing a warm sonic embrace. He has meticulously crafted a selection of songs, ingrained in grittier, indie-rock, pop-punk, acoustic ballads, laid-back grunge, and vibrant, danceable pop tunes with mellow undertones, shuffling through varied 90s and 00s influences with a sheer versatility that doesn’t feel redundant.

Louis guarded his artistic vision during his solo debut album by lingering within the Walls, which explored his comfort zone with slick choruses and pop-inclined music, adorned with intimate, evocative lyrics. However, with his sophomore album, he eases up and lets go of the closed mindset, embracing a more abstract style of evocative songwriting and venturing into diverse sonic realms with unwavering confidence while adapting to a learning curve. Even the album’s title Faith in the Future affirms his determination and optimism for his career ahead. To sum up, this album is for everyone who has a sincere passion for music and who deeply appreciates artistic excellence and its roots from the core of their being.

The musically explosive track, “The Greatest,” thrives off the enthusiasm of Louis’ power-packed live performances and serves as a brilliant, anthemic introduction to the album, instilling listeners with tremendous joy. This passionate singalong number, featuring soul-quaking percussions coupled with his velvety vocals over acoustic chords, expands into a blazing tour opener as it crescendos to a resounding chorus giving fans the serotonin rush to chant over the rousing rhythms till the end. But that’s not all; “The Greatest” is a vibrant yet sincere ode to his massive, ardent fan base, aka Louies, which talks a lot about an artist devoting an entire song to their poignant, stronger-than-ever bond, while dispelling the stereotype of “being a fangirl” and reiterating the notion that fans are the core of the music industry.

The full force of pulsating songs such as “Written All Over Your Face,” “Face the Music,” “Out of My System,” and “Silver Tongues,” smack us in the face, exploring the early 2000s modern alt-rock and pop-punk zones with vibrant, foot-tapping beats — something Tomlinson has dabbled with in the past when he first embarked on his solo career in 2016 and delivered club-ready singles like “Miss You,” and dance-pop crossovers with Steve Aoki and Bebe Rexha. These songs are soaking in live performance glow and charting unfamiliar territory of sonic influences with sheer confidence, giving us a fresh taste of his more mature sound through irresistible head-bopping, arena-ready bangers that we can’t stop jamming to.

“Written All Over Your Face” and “Face the Music” delve into the themes of love, denial, passion, and romance, with buoyant, and danceable pop-rock arrangements coupled with his mellifluous singing and chiming in the roaring background vocals, that are sure to put your dancing shoes on and bobbing your head to the beats. With its strong Arctic Monkeys overtones strewn throughout, the swaggering pop-punk “Out Of My System” upends our perceptions and sends us into a tailspin as Tomlinson embraces something more gritty and industrial rock-tinged adorned with thumping bass, drum percussions, departing from the conventional pop. As he belts out, “Gotta get it out of my system / Gotta get it off of my chest. I’ve already lived a good portion of my life, but I still have to complete it,” this instrument-driven masterpiece immediately becomes one of the most sonically ambitious and boisterous compositions by the singer, showcasing his unprecedented skills, halting you in your tracks.

“Out Of My System” accompanies a pulsating, grainy-textured music video with intensely red-hued connotations, featuring the British singer and his band jamming together in a room. With its electrifying ambience, fierce energy, and reflection of Tomlinson’s bold onstage presence, the only element that seemed to miss from the video was his jubilant fans flocking around, which we’ll undoubtedly witness during his forthcoming tour.

The last single off his new album, “Silver Tongues,” prior to the release, opens with hush ballad-esque vocals, giving the audience an impression that it’s going to be a warm track, adorned with lush piano chords. However, merely a few seconds in, it erupts into intensified percussions and enthralling guitar riffs with unflappable, airy vocals with a throbbing chorus. With a sharp contrast to the exhilarating orchestration coupled with Louis’ anthemic vocals, there’s a heavier, more profound and thought-provoking lyrical mix hinting at being a nostalgic ode while looking forward that feels unequivocal to him.

In “Common People,” Louis pays an elegant homage to Doncaster, the town where he grew up, as he chronicles everything from his life, inspiration, desires, and ambitions, with utmost humility and gratitude as he revisits his humble beginnings, synchronised with the acoustic guitar riffs, and bass chords, creating an enthralling, empathic harmony. Louis spoke about the song in his Rolling Stone interview, saying, “I’ve got that place to thank for who I am. I’m very aware of that and I love it. So it was important for me to have a song that honoured that and gave Doncaster its credit. I dressed it up as a love song. But really, the intention was just to give Donny a moment.”

The other groovy numbers include the raucous “She Is Beauty We Are World Class,” festival-heralded “Headline” boasting an impeccable chorus, indie-rock-drenched “All This Time” bathing in the ingenious soundscape, along with “Bigger Than Me,” and “Lucky Again,” that pack, beguiling rhythms with intriguing storytelling and sincere emotionality, probing the themes of self-reflection, choices, chances, struggles with love, fate and relationships. Tomlinson’s heart, however, is in the slow soundscapes that embrace heart-stirring emotional connections with swelling guitars that echo in pop ballads bathing in melancholic undertones like “Chicago,” “Saturdays,” “Angels Fly,” and “Holding On To Heartache.” He’s a master at producing visual imagery with deeply poignant, epic moments, and his confidence soars through his sturdy song writing that perfectly balances the album while navigating his artistry through these mellow tracks. The album concludes with the song, “That’s the Way Love Goes,” a perfect laid-back song that binds the album together and wraps it up on a cherishing optimistic note.

Naxatras - Sun Is Burning

Old 35mm from 2017

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