After a four year hiatus, British singer-songwriter Harry Styles decorated more than 20 major cities with images of his fans, boldly displaying “WE BELONG TOGETHER” to tease the release of his new album, “Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally” on March 6. After weeks of similar promotional material, including several videos of people embracing each other on his Instagram story, the marketing presents the album as an exploration of human emotions through vulnerable lyrics and poignant production.
Styles released “Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally” following the release of the record’s lead single “Aperture” on Jan. 22, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Styles pivots towards a 70’s inspired sound in the album, blending disco, synth-pop and dance-pop in the 12 tracks of “Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally.”
The opening track “Aperture” begins with a bass-heavy, lo-fi rhythm that gradually builds into a burst of layered vocals reminiscent of a Coachella rave, accompanied by the raw declaration, “We belong together / It finally appears it’s only love.” The emotional vulnerability that “Aperture” brings is sprinkled throughout Styles’ record. “Coming Up Roses” achieves the same depth, utilizing elegant imagery to depict a night spent with someone and the temptation to live recklessly for once and accept the consequences later. The imagery creates an immersive experience and acts as an emotional anchor, an area where the listener feels connected to the lyrical content of the album.
However, this illustrative lyrical style is infrequent, and the rest of the album reeks of lyrical repetitiveness. The majority of songs, including “Ready, Steady, Go!,” “Are you listening yet?” and “American Girls,” contain long, monotonous segments where Styles simply repeats the chorus, leaving listeners wondering when the song is over. This is apparent in “American Girls,” in which Styles attempts to cope with the loneliness of pop stardom. Yet, the chorus is anti-climactic and vague, with Styles simply repeating “My friends are in love with American girls,” treading on annoyance and leaving listeners with little meaning to derive.
Compounding the repetitiveness, Styles often sounds bored with his own lyrics when his vocal quality and expression fall short. Styles’ vocal passivity is most obvious in “Are you listening yet?,” a song that focuses on encouraging listeners to pay attention to their own lives, but disappoints due to Styles’ monotonous delivery, and begs the question — is Styles even listening to himself?
Together, the frequent monotony in Styles’ vocals and redundancy in his lyrics ultimately lead to a lack of emotional depth in the album overall, preventing listeners from personally connecting with Styles. With this tedium, he thus leaves listeners of “Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally” alone on the dance floor, feverishly searching for the intimacy promised.
Regardless of the poor lyricism and delivery, however, the album’s saving grace is its experimental production through futuristic techno elements that resemble electronic heartbeats, such as the ones in “Carla’s Song” and “Season 2 Weight Loss.” This keeps the album bearable despite the often tedious lyricism, additionally contributing a new sound to Styles’ discography. Balancing the experimental sounds, Styles adds dimension to the production by retaining traditional sounds such as acoustic guitar and violin. For example, in “Coming up Roses,” Styles incorporates classical violin pizzicato that culminates in an enchanting, dreamy solo. Considering the abundance of styles included in the album, the listener would expect the album to exude musical dissonance; however, the order of the tracklist eases the listener into each song by separating runs of heavier production with the occasional stripped back song to not overwhelm them.
Overall, Styles’ vision for the album is a unique one — “Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally” relies on the basis of human connection and all the exhilarating emotions that come with kissing, dancing and laughing with our loved ones. His production makes this clear by incorporating strong themes and unique experimentation that embody these emotions. However, vocally and lyrically, the album struggles, with only intermittently powerful songs. Unfortunately, “Kiss All the Time. Disco Occasionally” will only be getting an occasional listen.
RATING: 2.5/5
