KISS ALL THE TIME. DISCO, OCCASIONALLY. – Harry Styles
Album review by: Lindsay Carson
Harry Styles, the man whose face decorated the walls of my teenage bedroom. He’s come a long way since singing “What Makes You Beautiful” on the beach with his former boyband, One Direction. The Grammy winner has recently released his fourth Studio Album, Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally. So, it’s only fair I chime in with a review of the album to tell the world how far I truly believe the singer has come.
Aperture
Harry started out the album with the promised disco sounds, including funky beats. Although it does come across as more of an electronic dance song, but does disco require a specific sound, or is it a state of mind? What I’m saying here is, I’m not going to argue semantics. Anyway, I guess Harry is an expert on cameras now, singing "Aperture, let the light in.” I believe what Harry is saying is, he’s not going to worry about much in his relationship, when you let the light in, it reveals they’re in love and belong together, and that’s what matters. That’s my interpretation, at least. If I’m being so honest, I am too busy disco-ing to really decipher the lyrics. I do think it’s an interesting choice to start the album with the longest song, but I do agree that this was the best choice for a single as it’s very catchy.
American Girls
That’s me! I’m an American girl! Harry wrote a song about me! This song is less high energy dancing and more nodding your head and tapping your foot while singing at the top of your lungs. It’s got a simple, repetitive beat that matches the two verses and repeated chorus of lyrics. I do have to agree that American girls are the type of girls you should spend your life with… cough me cough. Though the British girls I know are just as lovely, I love and support all women here. Anyway, Harry, which friends of yours are “in love with American girls”? Are they interested in one who is super funny, cute, smart, and wrote this article? Asking for a friend. Oh, and the song is good.
Ready, Steady, Go!
We are back to disco beats, but the bass guitar seems to have a rock edge to it. This song is smutty, lusty, sexy, another word that means more or less the same thing. I love the way the singing has a distortion effect added during the chorus, along with a new electronic beat introduced. It’s a fun song that’s a new sound for Harry Styles and it reminds me of newer pop punk songs, but more pop than punk. Seems experimental for the former boyband member, which I do like.
Are You Listening Yet?
No, I’m not listening, I’m too shocked by Harry speak-singing to me. This is what I mean by new-age pop punk influence. It reminds me of 5 Seconds of Summer’s new album or some of Gorillaz’s stuff. Although, I can definitely see some eighty’s pop influence with the guitar and sound effects. This is another song that you get up and dance to. An interesting facet of this song is the drums almost have a tribal sound to them, which is a new sound for Harry. Once again, he seems to be experimenting, and I am always pro artists experimenting.
Taste Back
Yes, bring back the indie pop I listened to in high school, Harry. His singing of deep notes in the verses and layering it with echoey harmonies is quite pleasing to the ear. The chorus then melts into honey-smooth vocals. This song still has a funky beat but is much more subdued, the kind of song for a chill hangout, as the kids would say. I hear some eighties influence in this song as well, with the synthesizer that becomes more apparent in the bridge. This album in general seems synthesizer heavy.
The Waiting Game
Another chill song with what the youths call, lo-fi beats. The beats come after an acoustic guitar intro though, completely changing the vibe of the song within seconds. Harry sings softly, almost mumbling at first, but getting clearer throughout the verse. He uses a fun echo effect during the titular lyric, hammering it home. I thought this song was cute, something that I’d play in the background while I’m working or relaxing. It definitely has a relaxing sound to it.
Season 2 Weight Loss
The synthesizer? The drums? We are getting a bit funky here. There was an interesting production choice to seemingly make the music a bit louder than the singing. The singing was almost drowned out by the melody, it very much sounded like it was in the background of the song, especially during the verses. It becomes a bit more clear what Harry is singing when he starts belting out “do you love me now?” But then it goes back to having the instrumental in the foreground during the bridge, using an effect to distort Harry’s voice. I liked this song, but it didn’t particularly stand out to me as something novel.
Coming Up Roses
Everyone be quiet, Harry is singing a ballad with my name sorta in it. I will not elaborate on that. Anyway, this song is quite beautiful. It has an instrumental backing that features string instruments that would possibly feature in a Bridgerton cover of a song. It’s the type of song to do a choreographed slow dance to, Regency style. The song seems to be about a relationship that, while it’s full of love, is also experiencing some doubt. While it’s devoid of the promised disco-ing of the album title, it may be my favourite song on the album just from how emotional and almost elegant it is.
Pop
I once again don’t know what Harry is saying without reading the lyrics because of electronic effects and the mixing of the music and singing, but I imagine that was done on purpose. I did read the lyrics though, and the song is alluding to… let’s say, “Watermelon Sugar”. Although, he adds to the story in verse two by making it…. Let’s say, Challengers but Harry is Zendaya. This song brings the funky beats back in and I can imagine crowds of people dancing to it in the club, at a concert, or anywhere, really.
Dance No More
I must disobey the title, the beat made me want to dance more. Sorry. The guitar riffs during the pre-chorus and chorus seemed to have 60s, maybe 70s influence (I was born in the 90s, I’m not an expert on this… it could be 80s for all I know… it just sounded reminiscent of older pop songs). It definitely brings in the promised disco sound, but some parts of it reminded me of Prince songs. Also, “respect your mother”. I don’t really know what that has to do with this song because it had the same mixing as previous songs, but that lyric shouted at me at the end really stood out.
Paint By Numbers
Another slow song, this time an acoustic guitar is carrying the instrumentals until drums and a bass guitar are introduced. This song seems to be a reflective song about Harry’s life growing up in the spotlight. He was a teenager when One Direction took off, and it’s not exactly normal to spend your teenage years selling out stadiums and being a heartthrob. It seems fame is still a learning experience for the singer, despite being famous for years now. The lifestyle of celebrities seems to be quite abnormal, I’m sure no one blames the singer for still feeling confused by it all. This is possibly the rawest song on the album when it comes to Harry being vulnerable and sharing his feelings.
Carla’s Song
Harry brings out his famous falsetto for the verses of this song and continues to use a synthesizer alongside instruments. This song reminds me of Harry’s past songs, from previous albums, but with a taste of this album via new production features. It’s got a fun beat to it, and a sort of inspirational tone to the lyrics, which Harry has been known to do in the past. I think it’s a sweet way to round out the album, bringing everything back home with a classically Harry song at the very end.
I will be so honest, I didn’t listen to or analyze the lyrics of the majority of the songs on this album. For me, that’s not what the listening experience was about. While I am sure the lyrics have meaning to the singer, I was mostly distracted by, and even moved by, the musicality of the album. I guess we are disco-ing occasionally and occasionally crying along to slow songs. While this album is no “Up All Night” by One Direction, it is still a decent listen and I’m sure his die-hard fans are more than pleased with it.
