After four long years of anticipation following the global success of Love On Tour, Harry Styles has returned with his fourth studio album, Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally. After some unsurprisingly cryptic breadcrumbs leading to the first single only a month ago, new Harry has landed, and it’s a creative reinvention in the best way possible.

Opening with lead single Aperture, much to the surprise of his fanbase, who have grown to know and love his punchy pop, immediately sent fans into a spiral of expectations about the direction of the next album. The five-minute track was not only a sign that Harry was moving in a new direction by blending electronic elements with the echoes of “We Belong Together,” but also a clear signal that his sound is changing. Although it seemed to come out of left field as a standalone track, in the context of the rest of the album, it feels right at home.

In a recent interview with Greg James, Harry described the single as the “perfect little bow” on the record. Having endured a series of challenging life events since leaving behind the Brit and Grammy award-winning Harry’s House era, themes throughout other tracks on the album culminated in Aperture. The final song to be written and produced as a statement of returning to the light after a period of emotional darkness, not too dissimilar thematically to the beloved 2019 single Lights Up. 

The first of the new tracks, American Girls, stems from loneliness and longing. Quietly sitting back and watching the people you care about form meaningful, lasting relationships, an onlooker to the magic of someone else finding their forever partner and yearning for something similar yourself. Sentiments reflected in the video release, along with the album today, depict the filming of a series of stunt scenes. Harry acts them in a very safe, restricted way, before cutting to a stunt double doing the real thing and putting themselves on the line. A smart portrayal of the risk-reward cycle of having to put your soul in a vulnerable position to find authentic human connection.

The immediate punch of a kick drum and bass guitar combo to intro Ready, Steady, Go!, is contrasted with lushly driven high harmonies and gently placed guitar on a pre-chorus that builds into something rich and intriguing. Are You Listening Yet? is similarly energetic, yet lyrically emphasises the importance of tuning into your own gut feelings and drive. ”God knows your life is on the brink, your therapist well fed”, delivered through a softly spoken yet urgent voice, commanding you to tune into self-awareness and wake yourself up from the empty and unfulfilling habits carrying you through.

After several quieter years in Italy, his time away from the spotlight inevitably influenced the music that pulled him back to the studio last year. Blending into dark and loud festival crowds across Europe, he experienced what his usual audiences feel. These moments gave “a reminder of why this is special… And why it feels so good to come together.” Seeing live music from the other side and witnessing the importance of community and how strangers can belong together, even if only for one evening. Further inspired by several evenings enjoying LCD Soundsystem, ultimately leaving their shows thinking “oh that’s how I want to feel on stage”, and letting the music be inspired energetically by the performer’s pure joy and presence on stage, seeking to replicate those feelings for himself and the fans in this new chapter.

Following the high-tempo first track run on the album, Taste Back at the number five spot pulls the sound back to something more mellow. “Must be lonely out in Paris if you talk like that. It was tough at the time, but you called me back”, rings in echoes of the soft-hearted Harry laced through so much of his early work. Although the record as a whole is a shift in stance for Styles, familiar sonic elements from past work are woven intricately throughout. The Waiting Game’s melody is equal parts nostalgic and nuanced, with a beautifully delicate string section. 

Just beyond the album’s midpoint lies the track that sparked the most speculation, Season 2 Weight Loss. In Styles’s eyes, the title phrase refers to the pattern of a TV show becoming hugely successful, only for its characters’ actors to return for the second series, having had the Hollywood treatment. “I felt like I was coming back as a stronger version of myself”, he says in his recent interview with Zane Lowe, taking time out to reflect mentally and physically, coming back to music as an evolved version of himself. The theme of gaining confidence in the public eye is a poetically succinct metaphor for his life and career, having been planted into the spotlight at only 16.

A cinematic centrepiece follows Coming Up Roses, the record’s only true ballad, a nervous look at a fledgling relationship. Amid uncertainty and misunderstanding, it finds beauty in seeing and understanding yourself through others’ eyes, all set within a haunting string arrangement.

Directly after this comes the first of several bold pace changes, leading you into the addictively charming Pop. The fairly simple production, with its emphasis on the bass that runs hot and heavy throughout the track, is perfectly paired with smart lyricism, resulting in a devastatingly catchy track destined to be a fan favourite. The second in the album’s definitively disco portion, Dance No More, is equally high-energy. Thrumming bass opens the track and runs in tandem with vibrant guitar melodies, commanding movement. “There’s no difference between the tears and the sweat,” an eloquent take on the transcendental escapism that live music affords, no doubt a hit when the Together Together tour begins later in the year. 

The album concludes with a lethal duo of final tracks. Paint By Numbers tangles the idea of fame and celebrity with the management of public perception into a surprisingly nostalgic sound. The bittersweet notion of trying to stay within the confines of the perceived version of you in the public eye, while learning to gently metaphorically let the colours run outside of the lines. Carla’s song concludes the twelve-track run on a transcendental yet undeniably personal note. Dedicated to one of his close friends, the song captures the magical moment of discovery after introducing her to a new song and witnessing, in real time, the joy of connection to music. The chanted lyrics urging you to realise there’s a whole world of life out there to go and experience, so much music to discover and find the magic in.

For artists who are so deeply established, with such a loyal and headstrong fanbase, it’s an incredibly difficult tightrope to walk between still delivering on fans’ wishes and expectations, while continuing to push themselves in new artistic directions. But this is something Styles has masterfully displayed on Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally.