Harry Styles

Harry Styles fans compared his 'Today' show concert look to a candy cane and a caterpillar on Twitter.

Styles explained his outfit choice during the show, saying, “Well, it’s early, so I wanted to be comfortable. Fans of the star camped out in the downpour to see Styles perform at the “Today” Plaza. He sang a few songs from his upcoming album “Harry’s House,” including “Boyfriends,” “Daylight” and “As It Was,” as well as “Fine Line” favorites “Golden” and “Watermelon Sugar.” The “As It Was” singer, 28, performed on the “Today” show Thursday in a striped JW Anderson jumpsuit that — as with most things he wears — quickly sparked memes.

If the 13 tracks of Harry Styles' third LP are the walls in which he lives, “Harry's House” is a place of self-expression, happiness and healing.

If the 13 tracks of Harry Styles’ third LP are the walls in which he lives, “Harry’s House” is a place of self-expression, happiness and healing. The use of guitar harmonics on the stripped-down track bring intimacy to a song that is both cutting and hopeful as he encourages her to move forward without the guilt of leaving behind those who hurt her. In opener “Music For a Sushi Restaurant,” Styles’ feelings are more straightforward as he shares his love for another.

On 'Harry's House,' Styles is someone to confide in and drool over, as much a woke Gen Z thought leader as a vest-with-no-shirt heartthrob.

“Keep Driving,” which could pass for Vampire Weekend, recounts a road trip for two by stringing together a bunch of images including “passports in foot wells,” “riot America,” “cocaine” and “side boob.” Not sure what exactly it all adds up to, but that’s a vibe, no question. Styles stands for inclusion, respect and sensitivity, though none of that has come at the expense of the wriggly charm he spilled all over Coachella’s stage in a rainbow-sequined jumpsuit. If Styles’ production choices have moved him closer to the Top 40 mainstream — “As It Was” entered Billboard’s Hot 100 at No. 1 for his second chart-topper after “Watermelon Sugar” in 2020 — his lyrical approach has actually grown more idiosyncratic. And indeed, the rest of “Harry’s House,” due Friday, is filled with tender assurances of his emotional availability (not to mention his erotic ingenuity). “If I was a bluebird / I would fly to you,” he croons over a jaunty synth riff in “Daylight,” “You’d be the spoon / Dip you in honey so I could be sticking to you.” “They take you for granted,” he sings, close harmonizing with himself like a one-man Crosby, Stills & Nash. They call only when they “don’t want to be alone.” Worst of all, he points out, they start “secretly drinking,” at which point it “gets hard to know” what they’re thinking.

REVIEW: Lucy Blakiston is not a music critic, she is a Harry Styles fan losing her mind over this album - in the best way. She is also the co-founder of ...

I think (based on the name alone) it was the track I was most looking forward to, and it turned out to be one of my favourites on the album. This song - a perfect finale - took on so many personalities, and you’ll know what I mean by that when you hear it. As someone who has made him quite a large pillar of their media company, I was hoping this was going to be a banger. As soon as Harry released this song I breathed a HUGE sigh of relief. relaxed. Like, he’s really not trying to do too much with it (except for some scatting in track one!) and it WORKS! That’s about the end of my technical adjective-using musical expertise. It really is like nothing we’ve heard from Harry before, which is literally the point of new music.

These days, musicians releasing new music do so not only by putting out a new album, but also entering a new era, one defined by the clothes, colors, ...

“I’m going for comfort and I thought I could soak up some of the rain with this.” With style, specifically, an artist’s outfits can speak to the state of mind they were in while making the music—and the one a listener might be in, too, while listening to it. Performing on The Today Show in New York City this morning, Styles wore a custom bell-sleeved knit jumpsuit by JW Anderson—a riff on a one-shoulder mini dress from the designer’s 2022 resort collection, which didn’t not resemble a zebra-fronted package of Fruit Stripe gum.

ADRIAN THRILLS: Few tears were shed last summer when it was announced that The X Factor would not be returning to our screens after a 17-year run.

Lykke Li's songs of doomed romance have made her one of the queens of sad-girl music, although the Swedish singer has often eased her heartache with humour. Set in Stewart’s hometown of Sunderland, the record tells the tale of a teenage boy who is visited by an imaginary blues queen. The name Jacqueline du Pré still resonates as a byword in classy, committed cello playing. Where possible, this collection is compiled on the ‘original jackets’ principle, so that her famous Elgar Concerto appears with Janet Baker’s equally celebrated Sea Pictures. He casts the net wide, too, with musical detours into New Orleans jazz and acknowledgements of his early years in the Wearside folk clubs. Instead, working from her LA bedroom, she gave herself a set of rules: no digital instruments; all vocals to be recorded on a $70 drum microphone. Dave Stewart turns 70 this year, but the former Eurythmics member is approaching that landmark with all the energy of a teenager. Styles, 28, began his career on The X Factor in 2010, initially as a solo wannabe and then as one-fifth of One Direction, a group who moved the art of the boy-band away from blazers, ballads and choreographed dance routines to something more contemporary. Daylight is more syrupy, with Styles declaring: ‘If I was a bluebird, I would fly to you.’ For all his maturity, he can still croon a doe-eyed, boy-meets-girl tune to the hordes of screaming fans, now older themselves, who followed him in One Direction. But its maker is a master craftsman who combines decent melodies and heartfelt words. The Las Vegas rockers have a UK cult following that recently saw them play a sold-out show at London’s Roundhouse — and new single Broken shows why. But, as the past week has shown, its legacy lingers on.

Harry Styles' third solo album sometimes lacks substance, but style always abounds.

Its sounds—which move through funk, folk, and 2010s Tumblr-pop—are friendly and familiar enough to satisfy passive listening, but deftly executed, with a surplus of style and whimsy that rewards a more active ear. The state of the boy brand is strong. When a teen idol becomes a rock star, he announces it with a Rolling Stone spread.

Harry Styles' third solo album, 'Harry's House,' is very a much a continuation of its predecessor, 'Fine Line,' but more intimate.

Lyrically, it’s heavier and more serious in places — not surprising after everything that’s happened in the two and a half years since “Fine Line” dropped just before the pandemic. And at 28, no longer so young, he’s built himself an enviable solo career that “Harry’s House” goes a long way toward furthering. That ended up being 2019’s more defining and definitive “Fine Line” album, which could be considered his true debut, spawning massive singles like “Watermelon Sugar” and a blockbuster (if pandemic-delayed) tour that segues directly into “Harry’s House,” which is very much a continuation and progression of its predecessor.

Harry's House is a spacious 13 tracks, largely full of synthy, anthemic pop songs — a bit of a shift from the former One Direction member's earlier, classic ...

“I guess you’re all mine / When you’re sleeping in this bed with me.” Ahem, and now we know how comfortable the primary bedroom is! You’ll find Styles’s girlfriend, Olivia Wilde, throughout Harry’s House, with some of the most clear references to their relationship on “Cinema”: “I guess we’re in time / If you’re getting yourself wet for me,” he sings. Like a good host, Styles also has plenty of food to offer throughout Harry’s House, from a nice 1982 red on “Grapejuice” to a full breakfast spread of coffee, pancakes, maple syrup, hash browns, and eggs on “Keep Driving.” Why yes, we are staying the night, thanks for offering!

The sexy intimacy on Harry Styles' third solo album makes you feel like you're peeking through the bedroom door as the former One Direction heartthrob is ...

And if you thought there were jazz vibes on “Music for a Sushi Restaurant,” Styles even scats here. And whatever’s on the menu, you’ll just be like, “I’ll have what he’s having.” And he pulls it off.

He is one of the biggest pop stars in the world. You don't get there without your fans.

Styles does this most overtly in the song Treat People With Kindness, which he performs draped in pride flags. Harry Styles, and popular music like his, does this on a mass scale. It builds on his pop music background and travels around between 70s style folk storytelling and various eras of great dance music. The nature of his public profile means there has been intense scrutiny about his personal life. Styles’, um, style has been likened to iconic musician David Bowie in terms of gender and genre fluidity. He is essentially saying no one should need to justify or explain who they love.

The below has been edited and condensed. You can hear this conversation using the audio player at the top of the page. Leila Fadel, Morning Edition: This album, ...

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After months of hype, Styles' third solo studio album is finally here.

The release of Harry’s House punctuates a busy period for Styles, who continues to occasionally bulk out his acting career in addition to being one of the most successful musicians on the planet. (Let’s do a little music math: Even assuming every single one of those streams was done on Spotify’s free ad-supported tier—because those streams count a little less when you’re doing these calculations—the single alone has already scored more than 125,000 album-equivalent units, the industry’s accepted standard for the conversion of streams into album sales. The release of the 13-track Harry’s House comes a few weeks after the unleashing of its first single, “As It Was,” which has already accrued more than 472 million listens on Spotify alone.

The singer comes across as warm and unspoiled in his third solo album since One Direction hung up their singlets.

The title of the pop star's latest album suggests open-door intimacy, but instead pairs more vivid sonic landscapes with less revealing lyrics.

“Black-and-white film camera/Yellow sunglasses/Ashtray/Swimming pool,” he sings on the understated “Keep Driving,” the lyrics playing out like a stylish but stilted movie montage that takes the place of actual character development. The album opens with the bright and playful “Music for a Sushi Restaurant,” replete with horns, a gummy bass line and surprising bursts of stacked vocals. As the journalist Kaitlyn Tiffany writes in her forthcoming and highly entertaining book “Everything I Need I Get From You: How Fangirls Created the Internet as We Know It,” One Direction was “a group of boys whose commercial proposition is that they would never hurt you.”

In his transition from teeny popper to rock god, the musician has done everything right.

Harry Styles performs onstage at the Coachella Stage during the 2022 Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival on April 15, 2022 in Indio, California. Kevin ...

And that’s what makes “Matilda” a triumph. (Preach, Ralph Waldo: “’Tis of no importance what bats and oxen think.”) That’s why Matilda ends up being the star of the album. The “home” here is a trap full of nightmares, but the singer has faith that Matilda will move on and create her own home. It begins with a childhood flashback of a kid riding a bike, trying to pretend her pain is “no big deal.” But as it develops, Matilda tells her tale of family trauma, possibly abuse or abandonment. As Ralph Waldo Emerson would say, it’s about “Self Reliance,” but it’s also a challenge to define yourself by what you love, unplugging from social media and other distractions. “Matilda” is the story of somebody trying to build their own world. But given that she’s just coming to terms with her past, instead of grieving that it took so long, or mourning the years she lost, “you’re just in time” is such a moving affirmation. It’s tricky because Harry is simply trying to be a respectful witness to Matilda’s pain, without letting his own shocked or sad reactions get in the way. As he says, “You can let it go / You can throw a party full of everyone you know / And not invite your family.” Harry’s House explores the idea of home, and how home is something you make up as you go along, building it out of your emotions and memories. He wrote “Matilda” with Amy Allen (who also cowrote “Adore You”) along with his trusty collaborators Tyler Johnson and Kid Harpoon. It comes halfway through the album, surrounded by glam-pop gloss—a deep breath of a song. Good! Now we’re going to sing a sad song.” That could be a mission statement for HH. He spends the album mixing great dance-pop wet dreams with quiet ballads like “Little Freak” and “Boyfriends,” dancing in the zones between the having of sex and the feeling of sad.

Don't be fooled by the pastel tones and gentle sounds of Harry's House. By Spencer Kornhaber. Harry Styles in a white sweater, blue ...

On “Boyfriends”—a bit of choral folk that evokes Peter, Paul and Mary—he rues male-pattern relationship flakiness, of which he himself has no doubt been guilty in the past. Listen again, though, and you may discern a sort of gravity to the song: a downward droop to the notes, the words, the vibes. “Tea with cyborgs / riot America / science and edibles” goes part of “Keep Driving,” a song about one’s eyes on the road in spite of strange things in the side mirrors. The bubbling keyboards and funky progressions of the opener, “Music for a Sushi Restaurant,” may conjure memories of Oingo Boingo—or recent songs by Charlie Puth and John Mayer (the latter of whom plays guitar on two Harry’s House songs). But Styles’s takes on new wave—and his forays into folk and Brit-pop elsewhere on the album—do have a distinct flavor. Some songs spark the regret of failing to book the ideal dinner reservation. For example, much of Harry Styles’s third album, Harry’s House, imparts the mild joy that one might get from completing a list of chores.

On Harry's House, he stops mining the past and starts building his own place in music history.

Given Styles’ Joni fandom, the album title often has been taken as a tribute to the song “Harry’s House/Centerpiece” from Mitchell’s The Hissing of Summer Lawns. But in a couple of interviews now, he’s clarified that it’s actually a reference to the 1973 album Hosono House by Japanese folk-psych and “city pop” pioneer Haruomi Hosono, of the groups Yellow Magic Orchestra and Happy End. That record was an early example of a bedroom project, and Styles was anticipating that during the pandemic he might have to pursue a similarly homespun album. And there’s a touching centerpiece in the guitar-piano meditation “ Matilda.” It departs from the romantic themes to provide distant, gentle counsel (“it’s none of my business, but it’s just been on my mind”) to a friend who needs to detach herself from a hostile family life: “You can start a family who will always show you love,” Styles sings. And while the songs are not explicit about it, they do convey a sense of place, unlike the kind of stage-set facades one imagined him posing in front of on the earlier albums. In that context, the acoustic ballad that follows, “ Boyfriends,” isn’t necessarily just the sensitive-feminist denunciation of guys mistreating their romantic partners that it seems—though it’s a fine on that level, too, with that ultimate sensitive dude Ben Harper on guitar—but a potential self-excoriation too. It’s one of the many songs here that seem to be about the insecure moorings of a long-distance relationship. I can’t parse exactly what’s going on in the narrative of “ Little Freak,” for instance, where Styles starts off calling someone a “jezebel,” later declines to apologize for spilling a beer on the person’s friend at Halloween (maybe?), and then owns up that these acts of disrespect really came at his own expense. Then, in the final minute, the satellite’s path seems to get more tangled, and the music becomes overwhelmed by a twister of noise that dismantles its sweet optimism. A paradoxical effect of this embrace of maturity is that, like Dylan in 1964 (though this is where that parallel ends), Styles seems liberated to be lighter and less sententious. He has an instinct for the zeitgeist that’s most apparent in his ongoing visual refusal of gender restrictions—an extension of the “soft” masculinity associated with the boy-band archetype, on his own terms—but doesn’t stop there. The 28-year-old singer has said in recent interviews that watching the rise of the much younger Billie Eilish made him aware that for the first time he was no longer in contention to be the bright young thing in pop. And in this mode, ironically enough, his personal songwriting voice comes through much more clearly than when he was trying to reproduce blurry scans of templates from 1970s singer-songwriters like Elton John, Joni Mitchell, or his friend and idol Stevie Nicks. These songs find their own routes to feeling instead of retracing inherited maps. Quoting Bob Dylan to do it feels apt because, on 2017’s Harry Styles and 2019’s Fine Line, the former heartthrob from U.K. boy band One Direction seemed overly compelled to pile on reference points, particularly from rock-music history, in order to prove he deserved to be taken seriously.

With especial praise for the album's central track, "Matilda," critics are praising Styles' "confident" and "comfortable" work.

Overall, critics have been kind, if not overly effusive, about Styles’ latest efforts, with a throughline across multiple reviews being that the former One Direction-er is dipping his toe into some (extremely safe) musical experimentation here, while being very careful not to alienate fans of his pop music brand. Harry Styles released his third studio album, Harry’s House, last night, inviting fans and critics alike into a fairly breezy, occasionally somber world of dreamy synths and lovelorn pop melodies. Much of the critical focus on the album, for instance, has landed on “Matilda,” the central track of Harry’s House, arriving as it does 7 tracks into its 13-track run.

Olivia Wilde shared a snippet from boyfriend Harry Styles' song, "Music for a Sushi Restaurant," on her Instagram Story Friday.

He goes on to say he loves her “in every kind of way.” Wilde has also kept quiet about her romance with Styles but did joke during CinemaCon last month that he’s an “an up-and-coming actor.” She also previously addressed their 10-year age gap, saying in December 2021, “I think what you realize is that when you’re really happy, it doesn’t matter what strangers think about you. “I think you have to trust a lot.

A pop-up shop promoting Harry Styles' brand-new album, 'Harry's House,' has appeared in West Hollywood on La Cienega Boulevard.

In March, Styles released “As It Was,” the lead single for “Harry’s House” that has already racked up more than 480 million streams on Spotify alone. He also kicked off the “Today” show’s summer concert series Thursday on NBC. “I just want to make stuff that is right, that is fun, in terms of the process, that I can be proud of for a long time, that my friends can be proud of, that my family can be proud of, that my kids will be proud of one day.”

Harry Styles performed his new album, "Harry's House," in full for the first time at UBS Arena in Elmont, NY, along with a few fan favorites.

For three minutes straight, fans put down their phones and simply stared up at Styles and his female backing vocalists in awe of their raw talent. The party really started when the former One Direction singer reached the addictive bridge of his latest No. 1 single, “As It Was,” to deafening screams. Styles’ band members, including guitarist Mitch Rowland and drummer Sarah Jones, helped breathe new life into the two tracks as their fearless frontman joyously danced his way down the stage’s catwalk.