He doesn’t make urban music, avoids trendy ‘highlights’ and doesn’t release ‘singles’ separate from his albums; presents an androgynous image that can be offensive, he seems to be in love with his family’s record collection and, worst of all, comes from a ‘boy band’. Anathema? While there’s so much to squeak, Harry Styles’ access to the first episode of pop might be surprising as he toured the big venues that took him to the Estadi Olímpic this Wednesday (tickets sold out for €90-250 last September).
This is a scenario you already know, because almost exactly nine years ago (July 8, 2014) you stepped in with your One Direction colleagues. These were other times: styles that worked within a disciplinary mechanism where group members complemented each other and whose individual charisma and value had yet to be demonstrated outside of collective photography. These formulas rarely yield victorious soloists: Justin Timberlake (N’SYNC), Robbie Williams (Take That). And now it’s the smiling and sensitive Harry, who exhibited a distinctive courage and fear as he stepped into the arena with his debut single album in 2017 when One Direction announced his supposed temporary hiatus.
music with history
This record is a fan of some ‘retro’ sounds: California soft-rock and folk-rock following the mythologized Laurel Canyon, cosmic nods to Bowie and Pink Floyd (“Sign of the time”, at least the first “single”). He took the first lap (which he failed to fill) through Palau Sant Jordi. And second, the reaffirming ‘Fine line’ (2019), which was already behind the next album, didn’t come out for pandemic reasons. from there The beautiful piece that accompanies his return to Barcelona is ‘Harry’s house’. No one remembers the break One Direction announced: Everything points to the fact that the ‘boy band’ is history.
Although ‘Harry’s house’ is an album from a closed life, it does not contain the indigestion or self-pity stones of transcendence, but instead. It sounds friendly, fun, and even free. Easy to use, composed of straight, danceable songs, with a few remnants of acoustic song that give it a confessional feel. The calendar has turned a few pages, but not much: There are ’80s and ’90s echoes in synth-pop chemistry and soul-funk gymnastics. and it turns out A song “As It Is” stitched onto its greatest success, with that synth border that would make OMD or a-ha happy and its vibration around a certain boyish glow (her portico is determined by the voice of her little goddaughter, Ruby Winston: “Come on Harry, we want to say good night to you”).
In the House
Styles convey inner well-being, domestic warmth and understanding with loved ones. Literally allegiance to the physical space and that’s why she was interviewed by the (very popular) American magazine ‘Better homes & gardens’. In its most philosophical sense, ‘Harry’s house’ is a reflection of his sense of coexistence, interspersed with details of everyday life and the occasional visitation of supposed ghosts from the past. no strangers medicinespunctuating some text: “we shared the last line, then we drank the wine” (“Satellite”), “You were making cocaine in my kitchen while you were reading the horoscope, you never listen; I hope you miss me already” (“Sunshine”).
With these songs, Harry Styles follows his path to stardom, while not being the most modern in the class, billing his coveted pop quips and embroidering values such as sincerity and spontaneity. Introducing himself on ‘The X Factor’, the 16-year-old is aiming for the highest level at the age of 29 and keeps the mundane knowledgable as far away as possible (said questions about their league were “outdated”) and miss not only filling the stadiums, but even harder staying in the stadiums, and overlook the idea that the ‘mainstream’ could just as well be compatible with smart living.