Credit: Lillie Eiger

There are few albums that I’ve come across – full bodies of work – that sparked such a visceral reaction than this. Striking a balance between dance tracks and breakup hits, Harry Styles will release his third standalone studio album Harry’s House come May 20.

It feels like just yesterday when the former One Direction lead made his departure from the popular boy band in 2015. After a short hiatus, Styles returned in 2017 as a solo artist with his debut, namesake album. A combination of soft rock and moody tracks like “Sign of the Times” and “Kiwi firmly planted the singer as one to watch. Even off the back of his previous successes, Styles had set out on a difficult task to find a style that was all his own.

In 2019 Styles returned with sophomore album Fine Line. Accompanying pop tracks such as “Watermelon Sugar” and “Treat People With Kindness”, it appeared that finally, he was growing more and more into himself.

How To Win Tickets To Harry Styles’ One Night Only Concert In London

On the cusp of his latest album, the 28-year-old has seemingly garnered a new-found confidence. First personified in his viral dances from Love on Tour, it is this energy that now materialises and permeates in Harry’s House. 13 dance-worthy tracks. Indeed, this is an artist we haven’t quite seen before and combining familiar pop-rock sounds arrives a modern day homage to funk.

Harry Styles Harry's House album review
Credit: Hanna Moon

Harry’s House opens with the high-octane track “Music For a Sushi Restaurant” written in collaboration with Kid Harpoon, Mitch Rowland and Tyler Johnson. An apt prelude to the rest of the album. The work continues with another banger, “Late Night” before changing pace with a slightly slower ballad, “Grapejuice”. The already-released single “As It Was” follows and precedes more vulnerable lyrics from “Little Freak”, “Matilda” (a tribute to his past self) and the extremely risqué addition of “Cinema”.

“If you’re getting yourself wet for me, then I guess you’re all mine…”, Styles sings backed by a disco beat. Is anyone else getting hot in here?

How To Win Tickets To Harry Styles’ One Night Only Concert In London

A standout from Styles’ new music arsenal is found within the ninth track of Harry’s House. Eager fans will pick up on a sample from Quincy Jones’ bridge in “Ain’t We Funkin’ Now” by The Brothers Johnson. Listen closely and you’ll recognise the hook in the artist’s “Daydreaming” – a chart topper if ever we preemptively saw one.

It is hard not to look past references to Styles’ current girlfriend and filmmaker Olivia Wilde. “I dig your cinema,” he sings in one track, as well as, “If it’s Hollywood or Bishopgate, I’m coming too…”. But just as this album is a celebration of love and obsession, it is bookended with the ebbs and flows of a personal discovery.

From tracks “Keep Driving”, “Satellite”, “Boyfriends” and “Love Of My Life” the album takes on a more vulnerable light to close. “You don’t have to be sorry for leaving and growing up,” he sings.

 

Like the comfort and vulnerability we find in our own home, it’s clear, this really is Harry’s house. And it’s his best album yet.

Styles’ will take a break from Love on Tour to perform his new album live at the exclusive One Night Only concert in London on May 24. To see it for yourself, win tickets, flights and accommodation courtesy of Sony Music, here. Competition ends on May 16, 11:59pm AEST.

Harry’s House will be available to stream here from May 20, 2022.