Day 190: Harry Styles – Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally
I think a year or two ago I was on a cabin trip and we put on a Harry Styles album after hearing his song “Kiwi” on the radio. I hadn’t really listened to him much, I’m a bit too old to have been on the One Direction train, so aside from hearing the hits here and there, I was going in blind. I remember thinking it was frustrating to listen to. Time to see if his new album is any better.
Album cover courtesy of Columbia Records
Harry Styles has been famous since he was 16 years old, as he went o X-Factor and got put in a boy band by Simon Cowell. One Direction very quickly became one of the biggest boy bands of all time – that in itself must be an odd experience, but they were also signed to Cowell’s Syco Records. A fair few young artists have spoken out about how Cowell treats his young cash cows, with one former X-Factor winner saying that working with him was “the ultimate nightmare.” Apparently Harry Styles cried when he signed his first solo contract and it didn’t have “cleanliness clauses” stipulating what he is and isn’t allowed to do in his personal life.
The reason why I found his album Fine Line so frustrating is that there was something about it that just felt like he’s not at his full potential, like he’s churning out pretty milquetoast fan service pop that he thinks his One Direction-era admirers will like, when he’s clearly talented enough for more. There’s something he could be expressing but it feels like he’s holding back and just giving the people what he thinks they want.
Compared to that, it feels like Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally is better, but still not all the way to the point where he could be. Apparently this was Styles’ album that came from him opening himself up to the world a bit more, with the album inspired by him having collective experiences like going to gigs and clubbing in Berlin, saying that he wants to be there on the other side, facilitating that feeling for other people. Could he do that with this album? Sure. But something about it still falls a bit short of his potential.
One of the most considerable points is that the writing is better, but still not quite there. It feels like he’s being a bit coy, not really being abstract enough for it to be something you’re not even supposed to get fully but not forthcoming enough that you see where he’s coming from. I like it when he leans a bit more into the rock elements of his repertoire on songs like “Ready, Steady, Go!” but I also enjoyed the very pretty “Carla’s Song”. The rest, meh – mostly pretty good, but nothing to write home about.
He’s so close to finding his footing, but he’s only about halfway there. I just have a feeling that when he’s ready to put his entire [redacted] into it, he’ll come out with a generational album. I’m not even close to a Harry Styles fan, I can just sniff that there’s something in the air. Kiss All the Time, make a 7.5/10 of an album, occasionally.