Louis Tomlinson was the last former One Direction member to debut their solo career with his new album Walls. The English singer and songwriter had already released five singles from the album prior to the release, but those hadn’t stood out from recent music. Tomlinson played the safe road when it came to Walls, each song holding onto the glories of his One Direction days, while not being evolved into a new style of music—unlike his former bandmates.

I can’t help but to miss the wholesome quality of One Direction when I listened to Tomlinson’s new songs like “Don’t Let It Break Your Heart.” Tomlinson, just like everyone else, has grown up since we last heard from him. He talks a lot about growing older and maturity. The song is cute, in a coming-of-age type way, but I couldn’t help but to wonder if the singer could have spiced up his style a bit. As much as I miss jamming out to One Direction, seeing more of what makes Tomlinson stand out from the others is what I was looking for.

The song “Two of Us” is pretty ironic as the repetitive theme of missing stuff when you were young is sung into a song that when heard, comes off as a bit childish. While Tomlinson sings with a heavy heart, he sounds much like he did as a teen in a boy band, not quite so grown up yet. Yet it somehow fits seeing as the song is more about his mother, Johannah Deakin, who passed away three years ago. He holds onto his childhood with her and muses about their time together.

Halfway into the album, I start to forget that this is just Tomlinson and not the entire band; he keeps holding too much onto the past. As nice as it is to listen to, Walls depends too much on nostalgia and can get easily lost compared to other music. The album should be defining who Tomlinson is now, but songs like “Always You” and “Too Young” seem to be him when he was just 19 and singing about his first love with his mates.

It’s all about young love for the singer, but he’s growing older and I wanted to see more mature pieces. The way in which the album is presented seems as though it’s a new wave for Tomlinson, but he doesn’t change much from the boy band member I remember him as.

Tomlinson’s album isn’t a complete fail and does its job of putting him back out there, but the songs aren’t doing him justice and feels too much like One Direction. There’s no change in style and the songs are kind of boring. If this album means Tomlinson plans on making more music, let’s hope it’s not as dry as Walls.