Harry Styles - Fine Line ALBUM REVIEW

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Well, this review is actually a pretty special case. There’s not a bunch of new releases from this past week, so I had decided to go through the list of albums that I made that were requested. Some projects got one or two requests that I’ll get to soon, and others are older albums that I’m saving for a special event week in December. This right here, though, is something else. I’ve gotten many, many, MANY requests to go over the music of Harry Edward Styles, or mostly known as Harry Styles, specifically his second solo album Fine Line. The defunct(?) boy band he was a part of, which honestly needs no introduction, made a mark in pop culture that cannot be ignored. While the other members have gone on and made their own paths in the world, it’s not hard to say that Harry is the one member out of the boys that has actually consistently made hits, most of them being on this very album. Now, as some of you might know, I’ve developed a bit of a Directioner persona during quarantine. Just to be clear, I’m going into this with absolutely no bias, but I’m still going to be honest here. Either way, this is a highly requested review. I’m sorry for the wait. Let’s dive into the world of Harry Styles’ Fine Line.

Fine Line is a pop album with rock, indie, psychedelic, folk, soul, and funk influences. Whenever I go into an album for reviewing purposes, I always look for one thing: a connection. What message is being conveyed to the listener? Do I connect with this message? Well, Harry himself perfectly explained the album’s vibe and overall message: ‘It’s all about having sex and feeling sad.’ Well, that’s a lot of us these days. The chart-topping “Watermelon Sugar” is mainly about the former, and while there are many different songs about sadness, break-ups in particular, “Cherry” takes the cake in that arena. I also adore this new direction (both puns intended) of the more contemporary pop-rock fusion that’s on Fine Line more than the yacht-rock leaning sound of his solo debut. With this new sound, it shows Harry’s maturity, experimentation, and overall genuine talent that his former bandmates seem to lack at this time. Fine Line almost feels like it could’ve been released in the 70s as well, having the same type of production and even writing to an extent with artists like Joni Mitchell and Stevie Nicks being reminded of to me.

This is without a doubt Harry Styles’ best solo album and the best project to come out of the group’s break-up by a long shot. Harry’s charisma is off the charts, the overall quality and maturity shows with flying colors, and he’s also at his most honest we quite frankly will ever hear. Along with that, the creative freedom he has on Fine Line is unlike anything that an artist of his level of popularity has, let alone being used well. Overall, Fine Line is a great record, and could also be a game-changer if it were released a couple decades earlier.


9/10


Stream Fine Line here

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