Harry Styles’ Harry’s Home: a dive into adulthood, love, and loneliness
Harry Styles CREDIT: Hanna Moon
Harry Styles delivers a mesmerizing smooth, heartfelt pop and R&B atmosphere on his third album.
Two-and-a-half years after he released his album Fine Line, Harry Styles returned in April with a lively and intimate single that announced, "It's not the same as it was." Neither, it seems, is Styles himself, as he proves his genre-defying abilities on his third album Harry's House.
The album title, which is an obvious reference to Joni Mitchell’s 1975 album, The Hissing of Summer Lawns, showcases Styles’ intimate and cheeky side as he leans more into his artistry giving an amazing third album.
When Harry Styles left the U.K. boy band One Direction he was eager to prove his musical ambition. His debut 2017 single was the enormously influenced Bowie ballad Sign of the Times. Though slightly underwhelming, Styles was able to prove with time that he is a solid artist. Five years later, Styles is now synonymous with his relaxed gender and genre-fluid vibe that emanates pop, soft rock, and R&B.
The album opens with the Music for a Sushi Restaurant, a MIKA reminiscent track that finds Harry scatting and singing gibberish (“‘Excuse me, a green tea?’ / Music for a sushi restaurant / From ice on rice / Scuba Duba dubb boo”). The music though is an exciting joyful production of quirky pop. The trumpets blast throughout the song filling up the room, prompting you to dance.
The first single from Harry’s House might be one of the best creations he has made to date. Between the masterful chorus (“In this world, it’s just us / You know it’s not the same as it was”) and the personal lyrics that target his ongoing struggle with loneliness, the song is a smash. Not to mention the subtle key change that breaks out into triumphant bells.
An easy competitor for the lead single is Daydreaming where sounds of synth-pop are most prominent. The song, which samples from the Brothers Johnson's 1978 "Ain't We Funkin' Now" finds Styles screaming beautifully and yelping in such high notes it immediately forced you to get out of your seat.
Matilda which is a standout in the album is an obvious reference to Roald Dahl’s book of the same name. The sweet, melancholic ballad is played with a simple acoustic guitar and piano to highlight the lyrics. “You can throw a party full of everyone you know, and not invite your family / 'cause they never showed you love / You don’t have to be sorry for leaving and growing up.” The song displays Styles sorting through the feelings that come with entering adulthood on your own and stresses that home comes in many forms. Regardless of its inspiration, Styles’ delivery is extremely emotional.
In what seems to be an Arctic Monkeys inspired track Love of My Life, is a soft rock poetic record that finds Styles mourning a relationship he didn’t want to end: “Maybe you don’t know what’s lost till you find it, it’s not what I wanted to leave you behind.” The emotional track ends in such painfully beautiful piano that it breaks your heart with every chord. Little Freak and Boyfriends offer the same laid-back emotional vibe which let the lyrics speak for themselves.
Daylight offers up full soul and R&B beats that initially start out with restrained drums. As the song progresses the drums splash and burst as Harry ends the song with loved-up lines “If I was a bluebird, I would fly to you / You be the spoon / Dip you in honey so I could be sticking to you”.
As the most modern track, Satellite flies into outerspace. Electronic bleeps drift across the beat with a gentle “ooh oh ooh” chant, making it feel as if you’re floating through the milky way with the singer as he narrates: “I go round and round, Spinning out waiting for you to pull me in / I can see you lonely down there / Don’t you know that I am right here?” The record is musically one of Harry’s most interesting with modern elements diving into a galactic storm in its final throes.
Overall the album is a perfect merge of pop, soft rock, and R&B and delves deeper into Harry’s personal life, struggles and artistry. Fine Line was a tough album to follow but Styles managed to do it showing his elevated skills and deeper understanding of himself.
