I listened to Harry Styles for the First Time

No, I haven't been living under a rock. I've heard the hits. I know of the Singular Course.

My parents passed on a love of movies and television from a very young age (which I would love to talk about more if studios and streamers would pay writers and actors a living wage). Music was never a serious passion for me unlike many of my Hot Topic shopping, Warped Tour attending, listening party screaming friends. My dad is a rock/country/blues musician, so I have a music education of classic rock, and my mom made sure I knew Reba, Garth, Lee Ann, and Martina. But music was never my thing. I can only name 5 individual artists that I've sought out to listen to an entire album of their work, and for most of them, I have only really listened to one. My teenage self listened to Demi Lovato's first album on repeat, college age Jen played Adele's 21 till I knew every word from the deep cuts, Beyonce has always been there but only for a few full albums, and I've already told of my love of Taylor Swift (but even I slept on Speak Now the first time around).

Harry Styles has been around as a pop culture figure for me, but other than "As It Was" and "Watermelon Sugar", I'm not really familiar with his music. I find the brand of Harry Styles interesting, so I thought I'd set aside 42 minutes to listen to his acclaimed album Harry's House from beginning to end and give my thoughts along the way. I've refined and edited my thoughts here, but have left them mostly as I typed them as I listened to the album. Between songs I would give myself 30 seconds to write without sound, but other than that and the few times I've noted here, this was a fresh listen with no pauses to look at lyrics or song details.

Track 1: "Music For a Sushi Restaurant"

The intro is nothing what I thought a Harry Styles album would sound like. I don't know what my expectations were, but it wasn't that. I've heard of this song before by people who really enjoy Harry's music. It grooves in a way we've seen as a trend in pop music over the last few years. Specifically, I'm reminded of what I've heard of Lizzo's most recent album. It has this clear 70's reference point, but I'm not sure that this song is saying a whole lot. Maybe it doesn't have to be deep, but I'm just not finding anything beyond what is immediately presented. His partner is hot. He loves his partner. Maybe it needs another listen, but we're moving on to the next song.

Arbitrary rating: 5/8 sushi rolls

Track 2: "Late Night Talking"

Maybe the reason that this album is so acclaimed is that it does this 70's inspiration the best of all it's counterparts. It certainly makes me want to dance and just hang out. I really enjoy the bridge of this specific song as the sound of his voice reminds me of 50's crooners. Still not feeling a lot of depth here, but I think I feel that the combination of multiple songs could build to something more meaningful.

Arbitrary rating: 4/5 Dean Martins

Track 3: "Grape Juice"

What is the intro to this song? This album is definitely sonically cohesive, but I don't get the inclusion of this song on the album. I asked for a little more lyrical depth though, and I think I got it here, but some of the choices musically really take me out of this song. Maybe it's just not for me.

Arbitrary rating: 2/7 fingers for counting

Track 4: "As It Was"

Well I know this one, so let's contextualize it in this album. I think this takes the lyrical depth I was craving at the beginning and the great beats created here. I understand why this was THE single off this album. I always love a more melancholic message with an upbeat sound. "As It Was" does that really well, and with this song I feel like I'm starting to get it.

Arbitrary rating: 8/9 Leave Americas

Track 5: "Daylight"

Imagine someone not having time for Harry Styles right now. This song takes the biggest departure from the sonic overview we've seen so far in this album. I feel like this is a song I would come back to. It has a really specific yearning that I find really appealing, and interesting with the persona of Harry Styles juxtaposed with this vulnerable needy music. Only thing I have to knock is the guitar reminds me of Maroon 5's sound for some reason, which is not the worst thing to be compared to, but it also isn't ideal for my specific taste.

Arbitrary rating 6/8 Adam Levines

Track 6: "Little Freak"

Alright boy band sound in the first verse. For the first time, I had to stop the music in the middle of the song as a reaction to the line "I spilt beer on your friend, I'm not sorry". What? Who does that? Even as a metaphor, that's not okay. I've never had a lyric completely take me out of a song like that and listening to the rest of it, I can't get back to before I heard that lyric. I just find this song to be uninspired and bland if I had to reflect on it.

Arbitrary rating: 1/6 friends Harry Styles spilt beer on

Track 7: "Matilda"

This song has also come highly recommended by Harry Styles lovers. Stylists? Harry's Housemates? Do Harry Styles fans have a name like Barbz, Swifties, or the Beyhive? I had to pause again to look up that they call themselves Harries. What an odd choice, but okay, moving back to "Matilda". Admittedly, this is my kind of music. Simple. Good guitar accompaniment. This song reminds me in the best ways of a friend who passed away too young but was one of the best musical minds I've ever known. He was a true tortured artist that was never given a real shot at life due to circumstances outside his control. This song was everything I wanted and more. I don't think it fits at all with the rest of the album, but I'd throw the rest of it away for this.

Arbitrary rating: 4/4 families that always show you love

Track 8: "Cinema"

Alright we're returning to the sound I associated with the beginning of this album. For me, this song has flavor and character because of the heavy work the beginning of the album did to get my ears trained to this being the sound. Although the energy of this song is low, it feels really refined. I really enjoy some of the vulnerability showed in this album with some insecurity I was not expecting. This ending chorus is grating on me though.

Arbitrary rating: 6/9 movie screens

Track 9: "Daydreaming"

This feels like the most generic track so far. Neither here nor there, just very middle of the road, but sultry. Took a look just to see how many songwriters were on this song, and not surprisingly there were several. It just sounds like it was written by committee. It's aggressively fine, not good, not bad.

Arbitrary rating: 3/6 daydreams

Track 10: "Keep Driving"

This song makes really great use of visual descriptive language. I can see this song as Styles describes each phrase. I could see this song being used in film or television. This familiar sound takes on a more modern quality here which I enjoy as a musing on the same musical theme. I think this is one of the more successful songs on the album because of its clear point of view.

Arbitrary rating: 7/8 road trips

Track 11: "Satellite"

I must have heard this song before. It's so vaguely familiar but not in a generic way. Personal preference, but I HATE the use of voice modulation to get that very specific low version of the artist's voice. It is truly my least favorite tool in music's toolbox. Halfway through and I no longer understand this song. The sound is everywhere and just doesn't sound cohesive within one song which I didn't know was possible. I definitely have not heard this song before. This is not for me.

Arbitrary rating: 1/3 screwdrivers

Track 12: "Boyfriends"

I'm coming into this song so skeptical because of the last song, but Styles is really trying to win me over with guitar and harmonies. The point of view of this song is really interesting. I always love an outsider's perspective of what seems like a personal situation. This song has won me back over, but there is still an urge to take "As It Was" and "Matilda" and just toss the rest of the album. Not for being bad, although there have been some very sour moments, but just because I'm almost at the end and I care as much as I did going in. With mild curiosity being the overwhelming majority of what I thought about Harry Styles' music, that's not where I'd expect or even want to be after listening to an artists full, most acclaimed album by the second to the last track.

Arbitrary rating: 3/4 choirs

Track 13: "Love of My Life"

This song is also not for me, but in a way I can get behind. It's just not my taste, but it doesn't bother me to listen. What I find interesting here is that our really 70's beat has transformed into something else here that feels significantly more synth, and it also still feels like it fits.

Arbitrary rating: 5/10 synth beats

What do I think about Harry Styles and Harry's House after listening to the full album? Overall, I would characterize my feeling as disappointed. I expected to come out with more of an appreciation for Styles' artistry or voice or lyrics and unfortunately, I feel like this fell short for me as a whole product.

There are some magnificent songs in here though in "Matilda", "As It Was", and "Keep Driving". There is good sonic cohesion through most of the album which I find to be a plus. There are a few moments of vulnerability that really humanize this capital A-List celebrity for me, and those felt like really special moments that I wish I had more of.

Really low points were "Little Freak", "Satellite", and "Grape Juice". Every album is going to have things not to your specific taste or least favorites, for me, the real problem with this album is there is so much that is middle of the road. It lacks strong perspective, voice, or storytelling throughout at least half the album. Clearly, Styles and his team are capable of creating this more robust narrative as they do it in this album. It feels like if you cut half of the songs, the album would be better, and that doesn't feel right to me. Looking back at my arbitrary ratings, I feel that I was generous at points especially in the beginning because my curiosity gave songs the benefit of the doubt. I believe you can compare artists and that can elicit good conversation and critique. I could compare this album with other album of the year winners that I've loved, but I think the best way to critique work is to compare it against itself and its potential and the previous work of the same artist. I feel this falls short of my personal expectations.

Will I listen to this album or another Harry Styles album in full again? Probably not. I love the sound of this album, but storytelling is far too important to me to give this another try. Styles and his team seem good at picking out singles, so I'll enjoy those when they come out for future albums. I think Harry Styles has staying power in this industry, so I do not doubt that his career will eclipse my disappointment. I hope that his next album proves me wrong and forces me to listen.