By Katie Vo
Harry Styles’ third album, “Harry’s House,” transitions away from the soft rock songs found in his previous two albums and moves towards an exploration of his range of musical capability, unbound by the restraints of the expectations listeners would assume from the former boy band member of One Direction and the prince charming of pop music.
“Harry’s House” is Styles’ most raw, intimate and expressive album yet.
Styles embraced self-reflection during the quarantine lockdowns. The new album encapsulates the metaphorical idea of a home, seamlessly blending the concepts of belonging and family into tracks like “Matilda,” while also maintaining the physical sense of a house in songs like in “Keep Driving,” where he sings about breakfast foods in the kitchen in a stream of fleeting images, “Maple syrup/Coffee, pancakes for two/Hash brown, egg yolk.”
The album can be considered to be split into two suites, one being upbeat and the other being more vulnerable.
Styles opens the album with a funky style, electronic music and some scatting in “Music For a Sushi Restaurant. “Late Night Talking” and “Grapejuice” are energetic, groovy tracks meant for dancing and “As It Was” is a bittersweet revelation on the impermanence of relationships paired with an with fast drum beat and a musical motif that is so infectiously catchy, you’ll find yourself humming along to the tune soon enough. “Daylight” is breezy and warm, like laying in the park and watching the sky, while “Cinema” sounds like it could be played as runway music in a fashion show.
The second suite showcases his internal world, offering listeners and fangirls all around a glimpse of the pop music enigma’s relationships and vulnerability.
My personal favorites tend to gravitate to the tracks with just voice and guitar. The somber acoustic ballad “Matilda” sounds like a personal letter to a struggling friend to whom Styles offers empathy and support, singing “In other words, I know they won’t hurt you anymore/As long as you can let them go.” Another acoustic ballad, “Boyfriends,” was performed in front of thousands at the Coachella Music Festival before the album was officially released and captivated the festival-goers with tantalizing harmonics. The song speaks to the frustrations of relationships with boyfriends, “Boyfriends/They think you’re so easy/They take you for granted/They don’t know they’re just misunderstanding you.”
Throughout the album, Styles sounds more comfortable and confident than ever before as an independent musician, introducing vocals octaves higher than his usual baritone range. “Harry’s House” is a collection of visceral emotions and an ode to Harry Styles’ musical versatility and evolution.
