Hey loves!

First let me apologize for the incredibly late review of this album.  I'm sure there are thousands upon thousands of reviews of the album by this point, but I still want to give my thoughts.  One Direction fans around the world have been anticipating the release of each of the boy's solo albums for a long time now.  Zayn of course released his first solo album over a year ago at this point, but of the four remaining members of One Direction Harry is the first to release a full album.  I had listened to One Direction prior to the boy's solo careers, and I can't say that I was very surprised by the tone of Harry's album.  Personally when I listen to the album I get a classic rock feel that takes me into a world of Pink Floyd meeting The Beatles and I feel like this album is giving that particular style of music life again.  I grew up riding around town with my Dad while we blasted the classic rock station, so I am completely in love with this style of music.



On May 12 (the release date) I was actually traveling to a graduation in North Carolina, so I popped the Spotify app open in the car and started playing for the start of the six hour ride.  I have to admit that the only songs on the album I immediately fell in love with were 'Sweet Creature' (track 5), and 'Only Angel' (track 6).  However, the entire album has really grown on me, and I can't wait to see Harry perform it live.  Keep an eye out for my review of his show from the Ryman Auditorium in September.

Now let's get into the nitty gritty of this album and talk about each song from the album.




'Meet Me In The Hallway' is the perfect opening song for this album.  The song truly plays off of a much more mature sound that separates him from the One Direction days where he was crooning 'tonight let's get some, and live while we are young'.  Meet Me In The Hallway begins the album with a swampy sound and Styles crooning for someone to 'Meet me in the hallway/ Meet me in the hallway/ I just left your bedroom/ Give me some morphine/ Is there anymore to do'.   This song definitely sets the tone of the entire album where many of the songs are based on him pining for someone.

'Sign of the Times' is the second track off the album, and by far the longest track at five minutes and forty-one seconds.  The track was released as the first single from his self titled debut album, and I have to say that when I saw the title before the release I was expecting a more controversial track possibly speaking about the current state of the world.  However, Styles has told Rolling Stone that he wrote the song from the perspective of a mother that is dying after giving birth and she only has minutes left to tell her baby to go off and conquer.  After hearing the story behind the song, I have to admit now that the song makes me a little emotional, and I love the song performed live.  My only critiques of the song come in the lyrics if you watch 'Harry Styles Behind The Album' on Apple Music, you will see them working on this song.  The original lyrics were 'Why are we always fucking running from the bullets' and during the recording process the curse word got dropped and changed to 'stuck and'.   Personally I thought the curse word was still in the lyrics until I really paid attention, and the line makes more sense with the curse in it.  The other line that gets me every single time comes early in the song 'You can't bribe the door on your way to the sky/ You look pretty good down here/ But you ain't really good'.  Personally I feel that the last line isn't finished, and I believe it would flow better as 'But you ain't really good I hear'.





'Sweet Creature' is the second single released from the album, and is one of my personal favorites.  I fell in love with the song the first time I played it at work, and proceeded to share it with everyone I know.  The finger-picked acoustic song has a strong influence from 'Blackbird' by the Beatles which is obviously another favorite of mine.  The lyrics to the song paint a beautiful picture of a loving relationship (possibly for his sister) where he is anchored so he doesn't forget his roots, and who he is with lines like 'Wherever I go, you bring me home', and 'When I run out of rope, you bring me home.'


'Only Angel' is definitely a surprise on the album, and certainly another one of my personal favorites.  I truly feel that the song anchors the album with the beginning minute of the song sounding similar to 'Sign of the Times', but quickly building into a full blown Rolling Stones-esque tune with a massive 'hey hey' from Styles.  Everything about this song screams of a Stones influence with the descriptive lines 'I got splinters in my knuckles crawling across the floor/ Couldn't take you home to mother in a skirt that short/ But I think that's what I like about it'.  I just love everything about this song, and I can't get enough!


'Kiwi' is the seventh song off the album and provides even more of a rock tune to the middle of the album.  I believe I have heard somewhere that this tune came together as more of a joke than anything; however, whatever the influence was this song is definitely fun.  I have seen a few clips of him performing it live, and no doubt it is even more fun live.  Honestly the first song this reminded me of was 'Cold Hard Bitch' by Jet, but there is no denying that this song is a rock anthem that he has made entirely his own.  The lyrics 'She worked her way through a cheap pack of cigarettes/ Hard liquor mixed with a bit of intellect/ And all the boys, they were saying they were in to it' definitely point to a song about a bad girl, and it is definitely up beat and fun in a raunchy kind of way.

'Ever Since New York' follows 'Kiwi' to take the tone of the album back down a bit.  This song has certainly grown on me since I first heard it on his performances on Saturday Night Live (SNL), and the Today Show, and the beat of the song always has me bobbing my head right along.  The vocals to this song are soft, and almost dream like as he speaks about what sounds like the struggling end to a relationship.  Harry sings 'Brooklyn saw me, empty at the news/ There's no water inside this swimming pool/ Almost over, had enough from you'.  The style of this song is along the same lines as 'Two Ghosts'; however, I think the drums work quite well with the lyrics in this song, and this seems to have become a wonderful sing along with the fans.


'Woman' is the ninth song off the album and it begins with a cheeky dialogue of 'Shall we just search for romantic comedies on Netflix and see what we find?'  I feel this song certainly has an Elton John vibe, but a sound that is entirely his own.  The song is clearly about the jealousy of seeing a former lover moving on as seen in the lyrics 'I'm selfish, I know/ But I don't ever want to see you with him' and 'I hope you can see the shape that I'm in/ While he's touching your skin/ He's right where I should, where I should be/ But you're making me bleed'.  The song has a squawking sound (almsot the sound of a rubber chicken toy) throughout, and I have to say that I don't really like it.  When he was on BBC Radio 1 with Nick Grimshaw on release day he told a story about playing the album to his family, and every time I hear the song I can only think about it.  According to Harry his stepdad Robin asked how they got a duck into the studio.  Needless to say it isn't a duck, but thank you for the story Robin!

'From the Dining Table' is the final track on the album, and another slow acoustic song that is very similar to the first song 'Meet Me in the Hallway'.  The instrumentation in the song is beautiful and backs up the lyrics about the star longing for his desire.  He croons 'Woke up alone in this hotel room/ Played with myself, where were you?/ Fell back to sleep, I got drunk by noon/ I've never felt less cool'.  The lyrics to this particular song definitely don't hold back in painting a picture of vulnerability and a bit of loneliness.  However, I'm sure momma Styles was not too keen of some lyrics here.