Louis Tomlinson doesn't think One Direction's Up All Night album was shit, actually

When it came to catching up with Louis Tomlinson for the release of his upcoming second album Faith In The Future, we wanted our focus to be on Louis the solo artist. As its title suggests, this record is about looking ahead. It simply wouldn't make sense to reminisce on his already-well-documented past successes, of which there have been far too many to mention.

Read our full chat about Louis' new album and growing confidence as a soloist here.

That said, we had a bone to pick with Louis.

The One Direction star was recently quoted as saying that Up All Night - his Number 2-peaking debut album released with bandmates Niall Horan, Harry Styles, Zayn Malik and Liam Payne - was 'shit'.

It's a standpoint we demanded more insight into because, sorry, that record plays home to some stone cold 1D bangers.

MORE: Louis Tomlinson gets candid on imposter syndrome as he announces 'sonically ambitious' Faith In The Future album

As we begged Louis to rethink his stance, he told OfficialCharts.com: "Do you know what? It's funny. It was an off the cuff comment, man.

"It was amazing for the time. But look, I couldn't imagine myself singing those songs now, at this age."

We jumped to its defence, reiterating that Up All Night is very much not shit. "Tell Me A Lie! More Than This! MOMENTS!", we protest.

"Moments - I used to love that tune, to be fair," Louis explains. "It's the one that Ed Sheeran wrote. Listen, there were loads of good songs on there, but it felt very much for the time.

"I couldn't imagine jumping up and down, singing Up All Night these days. But never say never!"

So, which 1D records would Louis himself describe as 'not shit'?

MORE: One Direction's full Official Charts history so far

"Midnight Memories onwards," he says. "Maybe this is a slightly selfish angle, because Midnight Memories was the first album where me and Liam really had influence on the writing throughout.

"I think the bottom line is, it's not about Up All Night being shit. That was just me having a laugh. From the third album, I could take true ownership in the songs that I was a part of writing.

"That made me feel immensely proud and sparked my interest in song writing. I would say my favourite One Direction album is the last one we did, Made In The A.M. I really like that album, man.

"Those three [including Four], I'm immensely proud of. The others, I'm proud of; and the only reason I think any differently is because I didn't have as much to do with the writing of them."

When we claim there was a marked growth in quality with each record, Louis agrees.

"I think so, too. When I look back at those records, there are songs across those later three albums that you wouldn't expect a band that started out with an album like Up All Night.

"Especially where we got to, with songs like Story of My Life. Looking back, I'm immensely proud of how the credibility grew musically."

WATCH: Louis Tomlinson's Bigger Than Me music video

Louis also explained his upcoming second solo record is his most 'sonically ambitious' work to date; seeing him collaborate with the likes of DMA's, Courteeners' Joe Cross and Hurts' Theo Hutchcraft.

He told OfficialCharts.com: "Me, Theo, Joe Cross and David Sneddon did a writing camp together, and what was great about that was that – from the off – we were all on the same page. Theo is vastly intelligent and an incredible writer. Even just being around these people, getting into their brains and taking on their different ideas; I’ve learnt so much more making on this record than I did the first. That’s purely from being around the right kind of people.

"I'm a massive fan of both Hurts and The Courteeners. Even the fact they were willing to work with me, I was buzzing about that. We’ve got some really great songs out of it.

Louis Tomlinson's new single Bigger Than Me is out now. His upcoming album, Faith In The Future, is released November 11 via BMG.