On March 6, Harry Styles released his fourth studio album following a nearly four-year wait. As with any release by the former One Direction heartthrob, the album Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally. was highly anticipated. But the buzz surrounding the lead-up to this drop was different—fans didn’t really know what to expect, and Styles gave very few clues. It turns out the 12-song collection differs from anything the singer has yet released throughout his solo career.
Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally. opens with the album’s lead single, “Aperture.” The bassy, almost hazy, sound of this song is entirely new from Styles, and immediately cues the listener in on what to expect from the album. Overall, however, it is a shocking choice as lead single because of its melancholic nature—for past releases, Styles has leaned into catchy, chart-topping pop singles. In comparison to songs like “Watermelon Sugar,” “Aperture” has swapped the electric guitar and percussion-driven sonics with more gloomy bass and emotional synthesizers. It invites the listener into Styles’ space, creating a sense of intimacy with lyrics like “We belong together” and “Aperture lets the light in.”
The opening track is followed by a song that feels like a blast from the past: “American Girls.” While the lyrics are simple and bordering on cliché—“Her sweet eyes / Your temptations / Don’t deny / Her frustrations”—it’s hard to deny that, sonically, this is one of the catchiest songs on the album. Calling back to the nostalgia of peak Tumblr-era pop, “American Girls” feels like an instant feel-good classic for a spring or summer day.
If the album draws inspiration from Styles’ nights in Berlin’s clubs, then “Ready, Steady, Go!” and “Are You Listening Yet?” capture the moment in an evening out when the energy builds, and you start to break a sweat. “Ready, Steady, Go!” features more of the album’s prominent synths, as well as a bass-heavy beat and layered vocals that are accentuated by Styles’ raspy voice, making it almost irresistible not to start moving to. “Are You Listening Yet?” keeps the intense tempo going, but infuses deep and introspective lyrics that make it feel like Styles is bombarding both the listener and himself with the question repeatedly: are you listening yet?
“Taste Back” and “The Waiting Game” feel like welcome moments of lightness after the intensity of the two tracks preceding them. “Taste Back” is intimate and nostalgic, both in the lyrics themselves and sonically. In a way, it feels like listening in on a conversation between two ex-lovers discussing personal memories. “The Waiting Game” carries through that nostalgic feeling. The lyrics portray Styles’ gentle encouragement of himself to consider looking inward as the album progresses: “You found / Someone to put your arms around / Playing the waiting game / But it all adds up to nothing.”
Following the smooth simplicity of vocals and guitar prominent in “The Waiting Game,” Styles opts to bring the signature synths of the album back in full swing. “Season 2 Weight Loss” is almost ethereal in nature, with the singer putting his vulnerability on display in a way that he hasn’t before: “You’ve got to sit yourself down sometimes / It’s hard to tell when the thoughts are my own / And the old hat gets harder to hold.” The song serves as an outlet for Styles’ hesitancy to change what needs to be changed, even though it seems he has come to the understanding that it is vital. “Coming Up Roses” is the orchestral bow-on-top—slow and sorrowful, but ultimately reflective of a newfound sense of hope.
The track list takes a sharp turn with “Pop” and “Dance No More” immediately bringing the energy back up to a peak. Although jarring at first, the songs feel like a temporary release from the journey of self-discovery that Styles has invited us to take with him, allowing himself and the listener to indulge themselves for just a bit longer. Interestingly, the two tracks also feel like some of the most unique off the album with their funky bass lines.
“Paint By Numbers” is either consoling or panic-inducing. Styles’ vocals are the star of the show on the eleventh track as he provides the evergreen reminder that life is not perfect, and most of the time, it’s out of our control. The song does feel slightly out of place and lacks a bit of the excitement present in the rest of the album, but it might just make up for it with lyrics such as “It’s a lifetime of learning to paint by numbers / And watching the colors run.”
Just as the sadness of realizing the long-awaited album is coming to an end starts to kick in, “Carla’s Song” comes to dry the tears. Although sonically reminiscent of the eleventh track from Harry’s House — “Satellite” — “Carla’s Song” holds on its own, serving as a release of the energy that had built up to a peak as the album progressed. Inspired by an interaction with one of Styles’ friends, Carla, the lyrics pull back on the reins and serve as a grounding moment: “There is a bridge that leads to troubled waters / If you know, then you know / If you don’t, then you don’t, that’s heavenly.”
With Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally., Styles proves that he can dig deeper, calling on a previously unheard level of vulnerability as well as a sound that is entirely new to him. More than anything, the album feels like an invitation onto the dance floor, into the quiet moments after and ultimately into the parts of himself he once felt pride in keeping guarded. It may not be the pop record fans expected, but it’s arguably the one that feels the most honest.