Former One Direction singer Louis Tomlinson honored his late mother on his poignant new song, “Two of Us.” Tomlinson’s mother died in 2016, and “Two of Us” finds the singer both grappling with grief and striving towards hope amidst a swell of strings, piano and booming drums. “I know you’ll be looking down,” Tomlinson sings, “Swear I’m gonna make you proud/I’ll be living one life for the two of us.”
In a statement, Tomlinson discussed the personal importance of writing a song like “Two of Us” and his hope that it might help listeners struggling with similar issues. “I just feel like musically, I almost needed to get this song off my chest,” Tomlinson said. “People say writing is a part of therapy and in a way, I feel like I’d been avoiding writing this song because I knew I only had one chance to get it right. I don’t mean to be too soppy about it, but if ‘Two of Us’ can help just one other person who’s going through the tough time that I went through, then that would make me really happy.”
“Two of Us” marks the first single from Tomlinson’s forthcoming solo debut, though a release date and title have yet to be announced. Since One Direction split, Tomlinson has released just a handful of songs: In 2016, he teamed with Steve Aoki for “Just Hold On,” while in 2017 he released three tracks, “Back to You,” featuring Bebe Rexha and Digital Farm Animals, “Miss You” and “Just Like You.”