The Collegio Pittsburg's student voice since 1916
Megan Brownell social media editor
For this week’s music review, I wanted to throw it back a little and review Harry Styles debut solo album, ‘Harry Styles’.
This album came out in May 2017 after his band One Direction announced a hiatus in 2015. Two other members of the band, Niall and Zayn began their solo careers before Styles, and yet, he is arguably the most successful solo after the band breakup.
Styles first released his debut single, ‘Sign Of The Times’ in April, and not to sound dramatic, but this song changed my life. I was 13 at the time, getting ready to head into high school, hearing this song for the first time was incredible. It’s a slower song, and kicks up in beat once you get closer to the end. It is also a longer song, around 5 minutes full of emotional lyrics that tie you into the song. Even now I still resonate with this song and it has such a deep meaning to it.
That was the only single from the album, and a good choice from Styles. The rest of the album came out a month later, and held up to the standards of the first single. The album houses only 10 tracks, but all 10 are great in their own way. Track one is ‘Meet Me in the Hallway’, a slow song that as well kicks up the beat once you get to the chorus. This isn’t the strongest song to open with but it aids a nice transition into it.
Moving down to track four, ‘Two Ghosts’. This probably switches off and on with ‘Sign of The Times’ as my favorite on this album. This song has a mid tempo, slowing it down a little after fast paced ‘Carolina’. The lyrics are another fantastic showing, talking about how he feels distant from an old love, wondering what it is like to have your heart beat, reminiscing on who they used to be. Fans also speculate this song is about Taylor Swift, back from when the pair dated in 2012-2013, as he used lyrics like ‘red lips’, as well as referencing his infamous white shirt that Swift mentioned in her song ‘Style’.
‘Kiwi’ is another song to be talking about, being the most dance worthy, fun beat song on the album. The title does not make any sense, as the song talks about a relationship and the big phrase in the chorus, “having your baby, it’s none of your business’. It is super fun, and has made the setlist for every show Style has done, containing a fun dance break he does with one of his band members, as well as closing every show after the song with his iconic ‘whale’ water blow in his goodbye.
The album ends just as it started, with a slow love type song, ‘From The Dining Table’. This is another title that I personally don’t understand, but the lyrics are beautiful. The song is all about missing an ex, with lyrics such as ‘even my phone misses your calls,’ ‘maybe one day you’ll call me and tell me that you’re sorry too’. I like this song to end the album as it provides a strong finish.
My personal rating of the album is a 9/10, as it took me some time to love all of the songs. I would say it’s skipless there are one or two I need to be in the mood for to enjoy. This was a great debut album and set up his success for years to come.