Harry Styles’s album Fine Line is enough to win over even the staunchest anti-boy banders.
Harry Styles, a 25-year-old solo artist, released his newest album, Fine Line, back in December. With great new hits such as “Adore You” “Watermelon Sugar” and “Lights Up” it’s no wonder Styles’s album had the third largest sales week of 2019. I’m going to start off by being quite blunt: I very much enjoy Fine Line, and I wasn’t even a huge fan of Harry Styles before giving the album a try. But that raises the question, what makes Harry’s music so enjoyable? Why has this album lured me in to the large group of Harry Styles fans?
I’m going to back up a bit. Specifically to 2011. The boy band One Direction was one of the biggest things in the US, and it was very popular with pre teen/teenage girls. I will admit, songs like “What Makes You Beautiful” and “Story of My Life” weren’t that bad, but the whole idea of the boy band was just annoying. You don’t know how many times I heard girls my age arguing over who got to marry Harry, and who got to marry Zayn, Liam, or Niall. It was quite ridiculous. Girls went gaga over the band, and I didn’t understand why. I guess that’s what boy bands do. But that whole stigma with the popularity of the band just turned me off, so I did not like One Direction, or anything that had to do with it.
Fast forward to 2016, when Harry left the group (one of the best decisions I think he ever could have made). However, even when he was no longer part of the boy band life, I was embarrassed to be listening to him. It wasn’t until I was listening to a playlist my friend Lucy Woods had made, which included a couple of Harry’s songs, “Sign of the Times” and “From the Dining Room Table”, when I finally gave him a try. I didn’t want to admit that these were good songs, because I didn’t want to associate myself with the girls who had been so obsessed with this man that they would get into fistfights over who got to marry him (and we all know, this would never happen. Ever).
I’m honestly not a huge fan of listening to music from today. In my opinion, it just isn’t good anymore.
Back in December, one of my other friends posted something about the new album Harry had released, and how good it was. I went back and forth on whether or not I should listen to it, before finally giving in. And once I heard it, it practically changed my life. I’m honestly not a huge fan of listening to music from today. In my opinion, it just isn’t good anymore. I like to listen to old bands, sometimes even ones from the 50s. I think that was a big factor as to why I didn’t want to listen to Harry’s new album, because I was afraid it was going to be just like all of the rest of today’s crap. But boy, was I wrong.
Harry’s style of music is so different from what is considered “normal” by today’s standards. It’s got a new and fun vibe to it; it’s definitely not something you hear everyday. The instrumentals are what really got me into it. His songs just have a specific sound that I really like. The album is described as having songs in the rock, pop, prog-pop, psychedelic pop, folk, soul, funk, and indie pop genres. This is a wide variety of music, and you can hear all of these differences in each of the songs. For instance, “Canyon Moon” has more of a folk feel to it, while “Treat People With Kindness” has a chorus singing in the background, and “Sunflower, Vol. 6” has a completely different, indie pop vibe. The lyrics were also ones that I could relate to on a pretty deep level, especially in this time, when things might not be going too well. Music is something that helps me get through hard times, and being introduced to Harry’s music has been quite a blessing. Once I heard it, I couldn’t stop listening to it. Sure, there were some songs on the album that I wasn’t a huge fan of. But it’s gonna be that way on any album you listen to. But overall, Fine Line is probably the best album of this generation that I’ve ever heard.
I would say now that after giving Harry’s music a try, that I am a pretty big fan. Recently, I decided to begin decorating one of the walls of my room with vinyls of albums that have left a big impact on my life. The first vinyl that I bought? Harry Styles’ Fine Line. I hung the vinyls up in my room, and now every time I look at them, I can remember what Harry’s music has done for me. I could, however, have done without the naked Harry poster that came with the vinyl. Don’t get me wrong, I would consider myself a fan, but that is just a little too much Harry for me.
The Pine Needle 