Photo Courtesy of NME
Harry Styles delivered to fans again when he dropped his latest album, “Harry’s House,” on May 20. Within five days of release, the album already broke records. It has had the most significant sales week for a vinyl album in the U.S. with over 520,000 sales, coming out on top over Taylor Swift’s “Red (Taylor’s Version)”. This time around, Styles went down an incredibly introspective path, creatively articulating his own personal thoughts and feelings into an album, showing just how much he has matured as an artist and as a man since his time in One Direction.
If this album was an onion, every song was a unique layer that each provided a different texture going deeper and deeper into the album. Starting with “Music for a Sushi Restaurant,” Styles hit the ground running with this as the opening song. The song kicks off right away with a fun and flirty beat, perfectly ripe for an energizing summer vacation. “Late Night Talking” kept Styles on a roll with another high-beat song, easily my favorite on the entire album. The chorus feels uplifting and energizing, like the kind of song you’d expect to hear in the intro of an early 2000s teen coming-of-age movie. Interestingly, both songs’ lyrics had the feel of being madly head over heels in love, especially the latter of the two.
The first stanza of “Grapejuice” felt like a 180-degree turn from the previous two songs, describing a slow and steady romance compared to the diving head-first attitude seen so far. It gave the sensation of a lowkey, on-the-down-low relationship that’s not flashy on social media. In this song, Harry painted a picture of two lovers, sharing “a bottle of rouge” as he put it. How dreamy and romantic!
In the words of the opening to “As It Was,” we do wanna say good night to Harry! This had the most atypical start on the entire album, reeling in consumers from the get-go. Beyond that, if we want to go into a lyric analysis, it’s pretty straightforward. It’s only human for people to look to the past when thinking of fond memories with others, when missing people, or when thinking about one’s origins to where they are now in life. The words of a wise friend came to the mind’s surface when thinking about this song: the more things change, the more they stay the same.
“Matilda” was a real tear-jerker; it hit close to home for a lot of people. The title is inspired by Roald Dahl’s 1988 book “Matilda,” a book and subsequent movie that has been read and watched by many during their childhood. Listeners may be caught off guard by Harry’s empathetic approach when singing this ballad. What’s interesting is Harry takes on the role of storyteller to describe a close friend’s relationship with their family; he’s not speaking from personal experience according to his interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe. This song came across as the most emotionally moving on the album because it has the message of letting go of burdens and reminding one that they should be proud of living their best life.
“Satellite” was an interesting bop to jam out to: it started out with one relatively slow-to-midrange tempo, almost somber, and then, at the 62-second mark, drums are added in and the mood is changed altogether. This song sounds like someone being so patient for the one they love, that they’re okay to wait around for the object of their affection to leave the negatively-perceived person they are currently with. Considering the tempo dip at the tail end of the song, one can only imagine how painful that kind of feeling is.
Overall, this album presented itself as a mixture of deep feelings, good and bad. This felt like a private album, almost like reading diary entries. Harry went 13-13 if the goal of this album was to touch every emotion possible. It takes courage to put your heart on your sleeve and wear it as an artist and performer, so Harry Styles deserves a standing ovation for pulling off this album the way he did.
