Posted: by The Alt Editing Staff
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When Harry Styles took the final bow of his nearly two-year long Love on Tour in 2023 with an undetermined break on the horizon, I couldn’t help but be happy to see him go. That sounds harsh, but it’s not out of ill will. Styles has been hitting the pavement since he was sixteen years old, making history with mega boyband One Direction before their indefinite hiatus in 2015 and embarking on his solo career in 2017. A whirlwind of albums and tours and film roles and Coachella headlining moments later, his last run had him taking home the coveted “Album of the Year” at both The Grammys and The Brits for his latest record Harry’s House. He had finally broken the ceiling of success in the music industry, but with that came the baggage of overexposure, alienation, and burnout. I, as a fan of Styles’ music, was fearful of this overexposure and was sick of seeing his face. And as it turns out, he was also sick of seeing his face.
When he bowed out that night in Italy, Harry Styles wasn’t just ending a tour. He was bowing out of his career for a little while—taking off the dopamine-drenched mask of Harry Styles™️he had donned for well over a decade, and separating himself as a person from the monolithic artist he had become—to simply exist and experience the joys of living small again without the pressures of being observed. And he did that for nearly three years. Living in Italy. Running Marathons. Going to festivals and being spotted at LCD Soundsystem shows and enjoying live music as a fan himself.
So, with his return to music, it begged the question of where his art would go after the massive success of his third record. And, if one was expecting something similar to his other projects—mainly a continuation of the straightforward pop of Harry’s House, instead of a dizzying, electronic passport of sonic leaps—Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally is not the record for you.
The record is a charmingly strange step-up from Styles’ past catalog, unlike anything he’s dabbled in before: finding solace in experimental electronica, unconventional lyrical structures, and the flittering cerebral crisis of imposter syndrome. Yet, it still somehow feels quintessentially Harry Styles just with a heavy, consistent bass thrumming throughout.
With tones reminiscent of avant-garde ’80s New Wave artists like Duran Duran or Adam and the Ants merged with hungry, soulful ’90s house music, Styles takes the listener through a non-linear sonic experience, escaping the musical bubble the industry, the adoring public, and even he himself had unknowingly built around him all these years. Underneath is a twelve-song current of restless inner dialogue flickering between the off-balanced journey of observing others and being the one observed. What emerges on Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally is an experience of sound less occupied with radio success and more occupied with purely making tunes Styles enjoys—and having a helluva interesting time doing it.
The album opens with lead single “Aperture,” a weird and lush track, synthy and beat-driven to hell with a repetitive chorus that works more than it doesn’t, previewing much of what’s to come. Following is “American Girls,” a minimal but earwormy tune which feels influenced by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, with a chanty melody practically made to be screamed in an arena.
Both “Ready, Steady, Go!” and “Are You Listening Yet?” have a real indie-sleaze grit to them. The former is a fuzzy, disco-rock romp with playful voice modulations, while the latter thrashes about with dead-pan vocals and quirky dance elements and breakdowns. “Are You Listening Yet?” feels like a mirror into self-image, inner voices, and destructive vices—from drinks and drugs to the illusions of fame—ultimately with Styles asking whether this chaos is the life you want or the wake-up call to get it together. The more I listen to it, the more I forgive it for its messy production. That almost feels like the point.
Elsewhere, a few slower ballads break up the art-pop theme and give fans the most “Harry Styles-esque” moments on the record, with harmony influences from Simon & Garfunkel and simple, stripped productions a la Paul McCartney. “Coming Up Roses” is the standout here, filled out with beautiful string arrangements as Styles croons and swoons his way through a track that is as romantic as it is uncertain with uneven observations such as: “Does all of this seem to be bringing us closer / Or am I back-seating your life / Judging while you drive?”
The Disco, Occasionally side of the album is brought to life unfortunately only twice (staying true to its promise of ‘occasional disco’ I suppose) with “Pop” and “Dance No More.” “Pop” delivers on its title, being a groovy, ’80s pop sensation with swanky guitars and reverb-y drums. It skirts by with a heavier bass to amplify its rejection of “the squeaky clean fantasy” of his boyband era in place of darker attractions. “Dance No More” is a funkadelic, glittery mirror-ball itching to be played in any retro club. Think Prince. Think Morris Day. It’s surprising how fresh this feels while being drenched in nostalgia.
“Season 2 Weight Loss” has to be the personal highlight, though. It embodies everything Styles reaches for within this sonic safari he’s taken the listener on. An odd vortex of sounds and experimentation—skittish drums, trip-hop production, and a slightly anxious mood as one feels like they’re traversing through space (or an 8-bit cavern area in a Pokemon game…), feeling alien and lonesome. It’s a track better experienced than described, and the one that would fool anyone if they were to guess who the artist behind its eccentric creation was.
Collectively, Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally is an album that succeeds in its creative leap. Does it have its faults? Of course. Styles’ voice gets lost within the shuffle of some of the record’s production, there are moments where he struggles to have identity outside of the thrumming bass, and the troubled positioning of the tracklist makes the full listening experience feel disjointed. Yet it’s the most mature progression he could’ve made as an artist, taking as much of an experimental risk as a pop star can afford nowadays and mostly sticking the landing while doing it.
It’s a record that one will immediately love or immediately hate on first listen, but it’s a clear reinvention of what music and persona Styles wants to put forward after a period of ego death and existentialism—a modern, underground shift that simply documents his life as a normal person and promises nothing else. And while everyone will bicker over lyrics or discuss its highs and lows, Harry Styles, for once, won’t care because he’s finally cut the puppet strings from his back—free from expectation, free from surveillance. Instead, we’re hearing the first unapologetically authentic project from Harry Styles in a long time. And whether you like it or not, that’s ultimately Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally’s true, unwavering power.
Disappointing / Average / Good / Great / Phenomenal
Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally is out now.
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Hope Ankney | @heart_vandelay