Louis Tomlinson: I let my girlfriend Eleanor Calder hear our grungier new tracks first

Louis Tomlinson says his most important critic is his girlfriend Eleanor Calder.

After the group took turns in writing duties for their new album, loved-up Louis made sure his 21-year-old girlfriend was the first to doll out the feedback.

‘I’m always showing Eleanor our new songs and I’m always proud of saying that – “we wrote this”,’ he said.

With the first single from their third album riding high in the charts around the world, the 1D boys said fans should prepare themselves for a grungier sound for their next studio offering due later this autumn.

‘It is a bit risky. It’s an implied risk. We’ve thought about it,’ Liam says of the new direction the band’s sound is travelling in.

With Best Song Ever drawing comparisons to iconic British rock band The Who’s Baba O’Riley it would seem more homages to classic rock acts might be in the works.

‘It is old school, actually, and I like that. It’s grungier. Not like Nirvanna. More like a 60s kind of sound,’ Liam added.

Fellow bandmate Zayn also revealed he has enjoyed shaking off the more commercial sound of their music to date.

‘I think we’ve kind of taken away the glitter of our music,’ he said, adding: ‘It’s got that groovy kind of feel to it. And it’s not as poppy.’

Liam agreed, saying he’s enjoying the fact the band are more hands on with the music this time round.

‘We’re so involved. We’ve all done writing. It’s our take on things and we’re old enough to do what we want now,’ he said.

[Originally published Metro Guilty Pleasures 27 August 2013]