Harry's House - Album Review

I’ve decided to venture into unmarked territory, to do something so absurd that my mind can almost not comprehend it: write a review for an artist I don’t already idolize. If you scroll a couple of times in my blog, you’ll find roughly 10 reviews for basically my top 10 artists, but I’m stepping out and joining everybody else age 17-29 in soaking in the sunlight that is Harry Styles latest album, Harry's House.

If you’ve been on TikTok for twelve seconds any the last couple of months, you’ll know that “As It Was” has been making its rounds in reminding people who their favorite rogue boyband member is, so diving in on Harry's House was easier than sitting it out. I will admit, though, that my list of prior Harry Styles knowledge was extremely limited. In fact, here are the things I knew about him beforehand:

1. He was in One Direction (meh)

2. I’m like 80% sure he dated Taylor Swift and that the “All Too Well” song is about him (I think? Idk, too unconcerned to Google it)

3. He had that song “Watermelon Sugar” which I’m also like 80% sure is not about watermelon nor sugar, but about the booger sugar

4. “Adore You” is actually an amazing song, but I can’t publicly listen to it because of #1 above, and

5. His name is a sentence.

Needless to say, going into turning on Harry’s House for the first time, my expectations were nowhere to be seen. I’ve actually never had such nonexistent expectations going into an album listen, which is neither a diss nor praise. Just complete neutrality.

So, when the opening track “Music for a Sushi Restaurant” beep-bops its way with an electro-harmonizing, bass guitar overdosed intro, it threw me off in the best way possible. Throw on some trumpets, scatting, and Harry’s casual, near whisper vocals, we’re off to a great start (plus, him repeating “music for a sushi restaurant” is funny and I have no clue why. The randomness? How goofy it and this song its? The thought of this song actually playing in a sushi restaurant? Beats me).

In terms of certified bops, this album starts off blistering hot. “Late Night Talking” is certainly the album’s next single and a Billboard chart-topper in 2-3 months, but let’s move to “Grapejuice.” Throughout my initial album listen, I find myself repeating the word “effortless” when describing Harry’s vocals, and this song showcases it. Not a lazy, nonchalant effortless, but an effortless performance that drips talent but is not doing too much. Harry could have overdone “Grapejuice” by pulling his vocals up an octave, but he knows what this song needs and allows it to breathe by simply allowing it. That may come off redundant, but you and I can think of plenty of songs that were smothered, butchered, or at least cooked too well, by an artist showing off their range (i.e. Ariana Grande’s entire discography, basically every Guns n Roses song, so on and so forth).

This ability to let his songs have a voice of their own repeats in the next tracks. “Daylight” could’ve been sung immediately after Harry woke up, and “Matilda” is one step softer than acoustic. “Cinema” is an earworm that feels like an opening act spewing from behind the walls of a 1970's cigar lunge.

Once “Daydreaming” announces its arrival with a vibrant shout, we can sense the shift in energy, the emergence from the bedhead mood, and now we’re strutting with Harry down the streets. Even the next song, “Keep Driving,” starts off with a cozy temperament before the midway synths send it drifting into an almost urgent cruise control. And when “Satellite” kicks off with light croons and somber lyrics, then wakes us up with two snare hits and a chorus that is enchanting enough to have its own gravity, you realize that not only was Harry aiming to consistently capture a mood that can also ebb and flow like ocean waves, but he did so to perfection.

I will repeat myself that I have no prior knowledge of Harry Styles’ career, inspirations, or struggles. If critics have bashed his last albums, I did not and do not know. But I can tell simply by pressing play and waiting forty-two minutes that Harry had a vision for Harry’s House, that he had a target for what he wanted this album to be, and he succeeded in reaching that goal. There is a calming yet entrancing aura to Harry’s House that is able to blanket over and satisfy a wide radius that includes his diehard fans, indie pop lovers, coffee house (and sushi restaurant) dwellers, and, in this case, first-time listeners.

Top three songs: Grapejuice, Daylight, Satellite (tie), Keep Driving (tie)

Rating: 8.8 incorrect Taylor Swift references/ 10