How Did I Get Here? is the third studio album by the English singer-songwriter Louis Tomlinson. It was released on 23 January 2026 through BMG Rights Management. Cryptic posters were found in several cities around the world to begin promotion of the album. The first single, "Lemonade", was released on 30 September 2025. The album is notably thematically lighter than his previous record, Faith in the Future (2022), and took inspiration from a trip to Santa Teresa, Costa Rica.
How Did I Get Here? is Tomlinson's third studio album and follows Faith in the Future (2022).[5][6] In January 2024, he said that he had "started drawing the outline in [his] head".[7] In April 2025, Tomlinson described the album as "sunny".[8][6] In May, Tomlinson posted a photograph of him inside a recording studio in front of a microphone.[9] By July 2025, the album was finished.[6]
The album drew inspiration from Tomlinson's 2025 visit to Santa Teresa, Costa Rica.[10] In addition to Costa Rica, parts of the album were recorded in Los Angeles and England.[11] It was co-produced with Nico Rebscher.[12] Tomlinson described the album as "the record [he] always deserved to make".[13] Tomlinson will commence on the How Did We Get Here? World Tour in 2026 to support the album.[14][15] Describing the album, Tomlinson stated it was thematically more lighthearted that his previous record.[11]
Release and promotion
On 16 September 2025, Tomlinson released a website, "louis-lemonade.com", and posters bearing the words "Louis' Lemonade" were found around the world in cities,[16][17] including in Soho.[18] The first single for the album, "Lemonade", was released on 30 September 2025. Tomlinson announced the release on 23 September through a 15-second snippet posted to social media.[19] The album was released on 23 January 2026.[10]
The second single for the album, "Palaces", was released on 13 November 2025. A "punchy and anthemic slice of guitar-led pop",[20] Tomlinson describes it as "one of my favourite songs on the record since writing it."[21]
The third and final single for the album, "Imposter", was released on 20 January 2026. A "melodic indie-pop" song with "a lively bassline and gritty guitars", the song revolves around Tomlinson's struggles with Imposter syndrome and self-worth, with Tomlinson stating that the song is "probably the most melodic moment on the record".[22]
How Did I Get Here? was met with mixed reviews from music critics.[24] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 69, based on eight reviews,[24] while the review aggregator site AnyDecentMusic? compiled eleven reviews and gave the album an average of 6.3 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus.[23]
Neil Z. Yeung of AllMusic described the record as "a highly enjoyable and feel-good experience that is fit for lounging around on a warm weather day before heating things up on a sweaty summer night." He also noted the "sizeable shift in tone and emotion" from his previous album Faith in the Future.[25] Will Richards for Rolling Stone rated it 4/5, calling the album "bright and bold".[33] Shannon Garner of Clash said that the album "finds its strength in cohesion, shaped by an artist confident enough to sit with complexity rather than rush toward resolution, and who understands that growth can be quiet, deliberate, and deeply personal."[27]
Helen Brown of The Independent wrote, "The easygoing Doncaster lad got a little lost in his attempts to reinvent himself with an indie sound that he never totally inhabited. But his third solo album [...] finds the 34-year-old sounding more confident mixing those indie guitar influences into a sunnier, springier, synthier poptimism."[30] Ed Power for The Irish Times called the album "thumpingly okayish", rating it 3/5 stars and describing it as influenced by Oasis and Ed Sheeran.[31]
In a negative review, Will Hodgkinson for The Times criticised the "inoffensive but bland" nature of the album, giving it a final rating of 2/5 stars.[34]
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