New Album Review: Harry Styles- Harry’s House

Harry Styles- Harry’s House

Label: Columbia

Producers: Kid Harpoon, Tyler Johnson, and Samuel Witte

The crown prince of modern pop returns with his highly anticipated third studio album. If he’s feeling any overwhelming pressure or anxiety in terms of the challenge laid before him to match the enormous, blockbuster success of 2019’s Fine Line, it certainly can’t be detected on the surface of Harry’s House. This is the sound of a mature, confident and continuously evolving artist who is wholly comfortable in his own skin and steadfast in following his own creative vision. Everything on the record just seems to flow so organically and effortlessly; not a small feat given how truly elementally diverse it is as a whole. House is one of those layered and fully realized pop albums that we all salivate for: it’s fun and entertaining, but deep and emotionally resonant all the same. He provides some of the very best versions of his pop-funk brand to date with cuts like “Late Night Talking”, “Cinema”, and the deliriously weird opening number, “Music for a Sushi Restaurant”. And then he turns things on its head by moving inward to his more folk-tinged tendencies and it yields some fabulous results, including the gorgeously stripped “Matilda”, the tender “Boyfriends”, and the exquisite closer, “Love of My Life”. And then there’s the project’s first smash, “As It Was”, a record that masterfully retains the unique contagion of Style’s biggest ear-worms while pairing it with the most raw and bittersweet vocal performance of his career to date. It’s the ultimate gem of Harry’s House, which in its own right undoubtedly stands to be one of the true gems of 2022 popdom.

Track Listing:

1. “Music for a Sushi Restaurant” (Harry Styles, Thomas Hull, Tyler Johnson, Mitch Rowland)
2. “Late Night Talking” (Styles, Hull)
3. “Grapejuice” (Styles, Hull, Johnson)
4. “As It Was” (Styles, Hull, Johnson)
5. “Daylight” (Styles, Hull, Johnson)
6. “Little Freak” (Styles, Hull)
7. “Matilda” (Styles, Hull, Johnson, Amy Allen)
8. “Cinema” (Styles, Samuel Witte)
9. “Daydreaming” (Styles, Hull, Johnson)
10. “Keep Driving” (Styles, Hull, Johnson, Rowland)
11. “Satellite” (Styles, Hull, Johnson)
12. “Boyfriends” (Styles, Hull, Johnson, Tobias Jesso Jr.)
13. “Love of My Life” (Styles, Hull, Johnson)