Harry Styles’s New Album– A WESS Perspective

“I’ll see you again when the time is right.” - Harry Styles, 2023.

These words, said at the last show of his 22-month long Love On Tour, have reflected what was perhaps the last direct communication Harry Styles fans had from the popstar until this January, when he announced his fourth studio album: “Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally.” It’s been even longer than that when it comes to album releases– in fact, his previous album “Harry’s House” came out in May 2022. With the release of the new album and the subsequent announcement of a new tour, fans all across the world are thrilled– many of which are located at our very own West End Secondary School. 

To WESS junior Ryan Gold, Harry Styles has been a staple of his musical career for a long time. As Ryan describes it, “as a three year old, all of the One Direction albums were on [his] mom's old iPod,” and he’s about as “long time of a fan as [he] could be.” As such, he’s been able to see the twists and turns of Styles’ career, from the acclaimed boyband One Direction to his most recent album. 

As such, Ryan remarks that this new album feels like Styles was able to “reinvent himself,” and explore a new sound, which is exciting for him as a listener. 

As for his favorites on the album, Ryan says that he enjoyed the first single, “Aperture,” right off the bat, saying it “caught [him] off guard… but it was a pleasant surprise.” Conversely, though, Ryan says there are some songs he’s still struggling to really understand– namely, some of the bigger fan favorites like the eccentric electro-poppy song “Pop.” He says that although “people were really clamoring for that to be the next single off the album… [he] didn’t really see the appeal.”

As another longtime fan that has been able to see Styles’ career develop over the years, senior Sasha Gutt describes that she also has noticed a feeling that he has “been able to explore a lot more and be more creative with his solo music.”

She likens the new album to sounding sonically similar to some nicher artists or musical styles. Unfortunately, though, she says that the record hasn’t reached as many new audiences. Sasha reasons that “most of the attention [for the album] has been from fans,” but goes on to highlight that “people that are fans of, like LCD Soundsystem or like… progressive rock, they would love it… [she] just doesn’t think that’s necessarily happening.” Although Harry Styles is an ex-boybander (which can sometimes carry a negative stigma), he’s achieved an immense amount of success independently from his One Direction days, and currently lies in the top 30 artists globally on Spotify.

In terms of her favorites, Sasha said that her favorite song is definitely “Dance No More,” explaining that she “feel[s] like it's just the first song that he's made that's really just dance.” She adds that “you can play it at a house party, can play it at any party and everybody's gonna vibe with it.” The funky, dance-pop song definitely stands out as a unique addition to Styles’ discography. It definitely holds up to the “disco, occasionally” aspect of the album title, and Sasha says that it feels like “you can tell he did his research with dance music.” 

For Ginny Sanborn, the album was not necessarily love at first sight. Although she’d always appreciated Styles’ music, she was never a huge fan, but says she has grown to develop a true appreciation for many of the songs. She highlights her favorite track as the song “Coming Up Roses,” saying that “it sort of has a different vibe than the rest of the songs… it’s pretty, it’s just nice and sweet and slow and [she] really likes it because of that.” 

Ginny also echoed a sentiment that several other interviewees shared, that perhaps “it wasn't supposed to be listened to in order.” In other words, different sections of the album definitely appeal to different people. Ginny also highlights that “it feels quite unique, overall.”

Junior Willow Herschenfeld, a huge Harry Styles fan, calls his new album a 10/10, and emphasizes that it’s not “one of those ratings where [she] is saying a 10 to make it easier.” 

Willow says she believes that the album’s strongest aspect is definitely the last track, “Carla’s Song” (Which is also definitely my personal favorite). She asserts that “it is just such a perfect way to end the album and is such an incredible song.” The song is absolutely unique, and doesn’t feel as structured– rather, the beat and melody build throughout and come to a beautiful crescendo at the end. That feeling of anticipation is consistent with a good bit of the album, with tracks such as “Ready, Steady, Go!” and “Are You Listening Yet?”

However, Willow says, there are some (although very few) weak points. The main one, she says, is that “when Harry released a single from the album before the rest of the album it should not have been ‘Aperture’” Willow argues that “the first and last songs of every album are the most vital parts and are supposed to be a surprise.” 

Although many reviews of the album have focused on how it feels very different and explores musical styles that are new to Styles’ repertoire, the overall feeling of the album is still very classic “Harry Styles.” Willow says that with tracks such as the summery, poppy “Taste Back,” “the first thing [she] thought was how much of a Harry Styles song this was, which obviously means that the song is perfect.” 

In Styles’s second single from the new album, “American Girls,” he calls us back to the lines that he left fans with at the end of his last tour. He finally tells us that he is “right at home, with perfect timing.”