Harry’s House feels like home
Harry’s House feels like home
Harry Styles invites us into his house, with a genre-defying, personal exploration of music that proves that he’s not just another ex-boy bander, searching for solo success. Mr Styles has found his lane and we are loving it.
Although he is now one of the biggest names in pop, Harry Styles comes from humble beginnings. Growing up in a small town in Cheshire, he dreamed of becoming a Rockstar, however, that dream seemed unattainable. He would perform at weddings with his school band, called White Eskimo, but he was an ordinary teenager. This all changed, following an unsuccessful X-Factor audition in 2010. Rather than send him home, he was placed into a band named One Direction, and his life spiralled from there. The band has now sold a total of 70 million records worldwide and has become one of the best-selling boy bands of all time. Some critics have even compared the boys’ success to that of the Beatles.
At what was seemingly the height of their career, One Direction announced an indefinite hiatus, leaving fans heartbroken. Harry Styles, who had always had his bandmates around him for support, was suddenly on his own. The musician dabbled in acting, starring in the critically acclaimed “Dunkirk”, but he quickly realised that music was where his strengths lay. In 2016, he reportedly signed a contract with Columbia Records, for a cool $80 million, and released his debut album in mid-2017. It received huge praise, both commercially, and critically, but Styles admitted that he wasn’t 100% happy with the record, having ‘held back’.
‘Fine Line’ (released late 2019) was Harry’s sophomore album and solidified the singer as one of the biggest names in pop. It was genre-defying: the tracks effortlessly moved through pop, funk, soul, rock, and indie, and has been ranked 491 in Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. The album also contained Harry’s first billboard number one single ‘Watermelon Sugar’. The summer song went on to win the 2021 Grammy Award for Best Pop Solo Performance, and Song of the Year at the 41st Brit Awards the same year.
His third album, ‘Harry’s House‘, comes following a turbulent past couple of years. Most of the tracks were written during the pandemic, and this is reflected in the nostalgic, and at times, tragic themes present throughout the album.
Listen to the lead single here:
Opinion: Harry’s House proves that the singer-songwriter has really found his lane. The album counterbalances heartbreak and deeply personal lyrics into fun, upbeat tracks, proving that Styles really is a master of his craft. ‘Matilda’ is, arguably, the strongest song on the album, and explores what home really is. Masterful, deep lyrics like “I know they won’t hurt you anymore/ As long as you can let them go” prove just how far the singer has come from his One Direction days.
