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hoovesandfloorpaws · 1 month ago

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Louis' rocky path to his first album

..and how it might have been the reason/one of the reasons why Louis shared Always You with us the way that he did.

I don't want to saddle this amazing post about the Always You snippet and little scavenger hunt Louis took us on on Aug 24, 2017 with a too-long derail, so i'm gonna make this separate post. But please definitely read that post, too, it's so good! It'll make you shake your fist and go "LOUIS!!" (affectionately) 💙💚

This is for possible context re: him saying he was "pissed off about industry shit" and it resulting in him sharing the snippet in August 2017 and what long breath Louis had to have in order to finally get to release his debut solo album. Disclaimer: obviously there was much more going on in Louis' life during those 3 years - lots of yucky stunting that left Louis looking dead behind the eyes (esp. because on top of it he was also still grieving heavily), Harry releasing his first album, starring in his first Hollywood film, and going on worldwide tours. Louis obviously not being able to accompany him publicly to premieres or to all the shows - in combination it likely resulting in a lot more physical separation than they were ever used to, possible rough patches between them as a couple, Louis' sister unexpectedly passing away and the subsequent massive grief after already having lost his beloved Mum just 2.5 years prior, weekly appearances on TV with the giant asshole who iron-closeted him and his spider mouse ever since they were teenagers, a few public slip ups/outings from within their work circles, Harry turning into a horse on live radio despite being able to yell NO when he wanted to, Louis beaming with pride every single time he was asked about his Harry - and much more. His/their life is complex and busy and I'm only shining light on a couple of things here.

We know Louis had wanted to finally record his album in 2017 and release it in 2018. He said it again and again in his tweets and I personally don't think he was lying or stalling. (additionally, a plan for a 2018 album release + tour for 'a managed artist' was mentioned in a strategic report of the 1D company One Mode Productions Ltd., but by that point it was directed purely by 3 big players from Modest! Mgmt and that plan could've been BS from the start and could have still been an old remnant of the original plans Modest had for 1D after their hiatus; it never happened and the company was acquired by Universal Music in July 2020. Exact detail about that will be/are in my H&L companies masterpost)

In June 2017 Louis had been finally supposed to be signed with a new label under Sony, RSA...

(tweet)

...but then an exec from Epic Records campaigned to get Louis to them instead, because she had loved Just Hold On, so he signed with Epic in July 2017.

(tweet)

It needs to be said that the reason for Epic wanting to sign Louis based on that collab with Steve Aoki potentially meant they were hoping he was going to make more of that kind of music. -- which he never did, so he possibly also never wanted to in the first place (quite the recipe for disaster). And Louis was lagging behind to the public eye; he was the only member of 1D who hadn't released more than 1 single since the start of the hiatus. Zayn and Harry had already released an album by that point, Liam had had 2 pretty successful singles, and Niall had his first album set to be released in October that year. Louis being at a disadvantage wasn't his fault or within his control at all, though, with having lost his Mum 8 months prior. Syco and Sony faffing about with the record deals for him is certainly not something a grieving (and closeted & stunt-riddled) first-time solo musician needs when they just want to focus on finally releasing their first album and wanting to focus on that. During that time, it's especially essential to have a record label on board which understands and shares the same vision of the album, so concepts can be discussed, demos sent and given feedback on, timelines for PR and marketing coordinated, release dates planned, etc.

Within the same month, on July 21, 2017, Louis did release Back To You on via his own label, 78 Productions. (78 Productions Ltd. is also one of his companies) and Epic Records. Syco helped with promo in the UK. Back To You wasn't a first single of the album, though! Like with Just Hold On, Back To You's genre was vastly different from the albums Louis would later come to release, so it leads me to believe it was a fun filler project for him to work on with Bebe Rexha and Digital Farm Animals and vice versa, and to finally put out some music that year and also do a few live performances.

A month later, he tweeted this:

(tweet)

4 days later, Louis gets pissed off "about some music industry shit" and a day later, he tweets:

(tweet) - and this is when he drops the snippet of Always You right at the part with the "I went to Amsterdam without you, all I could do was think about you". part and he keeps dropping hint after hint and we figure it out 💙💚 - and ends up putting that song on his debut album.

(1 month later, Harry leaves to start his first ever solo world tour in San Francisco, USA on Sep 25, 2017)

Months pass and still no album single incoming.

On Oct 11, 2017, Louis announces his next single will be postponed, but also drops Just Like You out of the blue:

(tweet) / (tweet) - although Louis says the song is "from the album", Just Like You never ends up on his first 2 albums.

Months pass again.. the single he said would come "later this year" turns out to be Miss You, released on Dec 1, 2017. The song doesn't end up on the regular album, only appears as a bonus track on the Japanese Edition.

(On Dec 8, 2017, Harry finishes his world tour in Tokyo, Japan)

The year turns into 2018... and Louis seems to become increasingly more frustrated:

(tweet)

3 more months pass..

(Harry leaves to start his 2nd solo world tour in Basel, Switzerland on March 11, 2018)

Another month passes..

(tweet)

3 months later, and as a first step into a hopefully better direction, on July 19, 2018, it is announced that Louis has switched management and is now with Matt Vines from 7 Seven Management.

In July 2018 it's announced that Louis will appear on X-Factor as a judge that year.

(Coincidentally, Harry finishes his world tour on July 22, 2018 in New York City, USA)

Louis' X-Factor filming takes place (with breaks in between) from July 28 until Dec 2, 2018. (together with Simon Cowbell, so that must have been quite unpleasant at times, but Louis' contestant won! HA!)

Most importantly: no music at all gets released for Louis in all 2018!

(Harry leaves to start a very short tour in Singapore on Nov 23, 2018 and already finishes on Dec 7, 2018 in Tokyo, Japan)

The year turns into 2019...

And then fucking finally, in Feb 2019, it is announced that Louis has signed with Arista, who also belong to Sony. Louis can finally really start working on the album now!

On March 7, 2019, he releases Two Of Us - the first proper single of the upcoming album and a beautiful song he wrote for his Mum. But the joy doesn't last long -- sadly only 1 week later, on March 13, 2019, Louis' sister Félicité unexpectedly passes away and this completely throws life off its hinges again :( 🖤

(Harry plays only 2 shows on March 28 + 29, 2019 in New York City, USA, because he inducts beloved Stevie Nicks into the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame - but he doesn't tour again until October; is also in the process of finishing the recording of his 2nd album, Fine Line)

4 months later, Louis tweets this:

(tweet)

Things finally go according to (an obviously existing) plan now and it's clear that there's a proper release schedule at work. The single and music video releases are firing on all cylinders. Starting from September, there's basically a new Louis release every month. There's concepts for all music videos, as they all tell a multiple-part continuous story. Kill My Mind is released on Sep 5, 2019 We Made It follows up on Oct 24, 2019 Don't Let It Break Your Heart on Nov 23, 2019 then there's the usual Christmas break (X-mas is mostly for album releases, case in point: Harry's Fine Line's released on Dec 13, 2019) Walls, the album title single, is released on Jan 17, 2020 -- 2 weeks before the album release.

When asked what's his favorite song on the album, he replies with this:

(tweet) And on Jan 31, 2020 Louis' finally gets to release his debut solo album Walls! 🙌🏼

3 years in the active making and a frustrating 2 years later than he'd hoped for.

Because within just 3 years, Simon tried/succeeded to sign Louis to three different Sony-owned record labels! Possibly also because Louis made it clear he was not going to release his album with Syco alone, but that's just speculation on me part. (I also need to mention that Simon had already sold 50% of his shares in Syco Music to Sony in July 2015, leaving him with only 20% and he never re-acquired them, meaning since 2015 Simon was already 75% out of the door back then. Guess what he already knew would happen since the beginning of 2015, hmmmm?)

Personal thoughts: To me, that’s all absolutely wild behaviour to treat an artist like that. Someone who's made you such a fuckton of money already, too. (because let's be honest, the money's all people like Simon Cowbell and his Modest! minions care about) Simon's never had an ounce of integrity or loyalty in his body. To treat an artist, who to the public he claimed he was 'so close' to like this and to then see him struggle and still try to manipulate or bribe him into your own plans (the girlband, the management company, the DOA Triple Strings label) instead of finally letting him pursue what he so clearly wanted.. it's classic and disgusting. From my own professional experience of 15 years as an artist & tour manager, it is not surprising to me that Louis wasn’t able to establish any consistency within his career for the first 4 years. (And we probably only know half of the contractual shit Louis has had to deal with.) You'd usually need at least good management that you trust, that's ready to take the brunt of forces, but also makes sure you don't make certain mistakes (again), and that's ready to work with & for you in this. Record labels come second, especially since it's become easier nowadays to release shit indie and it's not like Louis' (and Harry's) household didn't have some funds-- but yeah, proper management is key! They're the junction where everything leads together. I have no idea what the James Grant Group thought they were doing with Louis, but it was complete weak sauce.

And although I'm also not a fan of Matt Vines and 7 Seven Management, they're definitely some kind of improvement. I understand Louis in preferring to work with people he's become close with and who he's already trusting, rather than taking the risk and choosing someone new - especially given Louis' very awful prior experiences with management. I hope Matt Vines steps up his game in the future, but from what I have learned in the past months, sadly I don't think 7 Seven Management have a good grasp on Louis' target group and fanbase and I'm not sure how much use they're making of proper market research. For an artist of Louis' caliber, they're doing too little.

Anyway, back to Syco, I think nobody is surprised that Louis had enough of it 1.5 years after Walls was released and finally ended things with Syco on July 11, 2020.

Now I want to end on saying that i'm only speculating something about his own record label / album delaying situation could've been the reason for him being pissed off. It also could've been something to do with the music industry in itself, something to do with Harry and him, something closeting- or stunt-related. I mean he did release a snippet of a song that's obviously about Harry and him. But he also released a snippet of a song that was supposed to be on his album. So yeah, the reason could've been a mix of both.

But even though we can't say that for sure, it was valid as hell that he was pissed. And he got to share the Always You snippet with us for it, such an incredibly special song; so clearly about Harry & him and he didn't give a fuck that night. And I think that's beautiful.

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synergysilhouette · 3 months ago

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10 more Disney hot takes/unpopular opinions (Part 4)

Check out part 3 here.

"I See the Light" is my least favorite Disney duet--I don't know why, but it isn't emotional or impactful to me like other duets. Perhaps it was due to not being emotionally invested in Flynn like I was supposed to be at this point, and his and Rapunzel's different personalities making them feel almost like father and daughter rather than love interests.

2. Anna's "Frozen 2" look is very boring--It's wildly disappointing that they opted not to give her her double braids because they seemed too childish. This is only three years after the first film, and while I love seeing her hair down, I would've enjoyed her having her two braids as well when traveling. And don't get me started on her main outfit; the black look being chosen to show maturity/seriousness could've easily been a darker green or magenta to keep with her main look rather than going with black, especially since Kristoff's look is black (and also boring; it's just recoloring his look from part 1).

3. The post-renaissance era is very disappointing--No seriously. I'd save "Fantasia 2000" and maybe "The Emperor's new Groove" and everything else can be erased.

4. "Zootopia" is the best Disney movie of the 21st century so far--Given that I tend to appreciate Disney's musical films more and don't usually care for animal-centric films, this surprised me just as much as anyone else. However, the message, while not 100% transferible to human racism, was so impactful and emotional to me. I can only hope the sequel does it justice.

5. Yokai is the best "modern" Disney villain of the revival era--To clarify, by "modern" I mean that he isn't written like classic Disney villains as only having "evil" as their only setting; his villainy has a meaning to it, serving as a cautionary tale to what the hero could become. TBH, I think it was better done than the "Know Who You Are" message with Moana and Te Fiti (see my other hot take post). Granted, I do think some of his sympathy was removed when he tried to kill his students, but the message and overall theme itself is very good to me.

6. "Encanto" was good, but not great--Don't get me wrong, I loved most of the songs, and the animation was phenomenal as well as the message, but the film felt like it was overstuffed. With twelve family members, it was inevitable, but trying to give lessons with Luisa and Isabela along with giving Dolores a romantic arc felt underwhelming since they weren't major characters with Mirabel, who's main thing was feeling left out and isolated. If they wanted to incorporate other arcs, they'd have to be more included in the narrative, and you can still have Mirabel feel isolated; you can be around others and still feel like they don't get you or listen to you.

7. Ariel's sisters should've had more relevance than just being plot-accurate--I never really thought about this until the live-action remake, but yeah. Ariel's six older sisters don't do anything and don't exist except for the fact that the source material said she was the youngest of several sisters (thus where we get the title from; I think the fairy tale only gave her five, though). While this is more of a modern Disney idea, I would've liked it if Ariel AND her sisters became human, and each of them grow closer to Ariel upon seeing why she likes the human world so much, and further highlight the anguish Triton feels at driving all his daughters away. That said, due to the amount of characters in the film, perhaps condense the six sisters into one to three of them, and they could still have their hair cut as their payment to Ursula. In fact, perhaps because of this trade, their time on land is shorter than Ariel's (but they don't belong to Ursula until the third day is up), allowing them to get King Triton and disrupt the wedding at the last minute.

8. The Disney prince line should be more relevant--It baffles me greatly that this hit the backburner in contrast to the princesses. The unnamed prince Charmings could be given names and more fleshed out personalities, and their books/stories could be promoted just as much as the Disney princesses. There is other merchandise to be used besides dolls (even if that is the money maker).

9. Disney needs to consider PG-13 animated films--Animation in the western world seems to be synonymous with family/young audiences, 3/4 times, while Japan has shown that animation has huge potential in the young adult market. I desperately hope that "The Boy and the Heron" being so acclaimed inspires Disney to be more PG-13--not just for the rating, but because the story benefits more from the mature content. Note: this is more for violence/scary imagery than innuendo or profanity.

10. Disney should be more sparing when they hire celebrities for films expected to start a franchise--This is a personal opinion of mine, but while I don't think celebrities should be excluded from major motion animated films, I do think companies, particularly Disney, should use them carefully. These are for two reasons: if you hire a well-known voice actor, the character's voice may not sound as unique for a major property since the voice is somewhat ubiqitous thanks to the actor's work. Secondly, hiring a celebrity actor known for live-action productions, it may be hard to meet their schedule or salary desires when you want them to return for a short, sequel, and/or tv show. Not saying it happens every time, but I do have concerns about that, especially when I thought "Wish" was going to be something spectacular and show up more in Disney's merchandise.

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