After a couple of marathons, watching the new Pope get inaugurated, and taking inspiration from the Berlin party scene, Harry Styles is finally back with a groove. He’s had quite a run of promo for this new record (performing ‘Aperture’ at the Brits; releasing a ‘One Night Only’ Netflix film; and serving double duty on SNL to name a few), and it looks to be working out – Styles has just earned himself the biggest opening week of his career so far. There’s a liberating swagger on this album that balances between both safe and experimental choices – while he seems to have found his footing in this electronic, synth-pop album that leans heavily on a sound akin to LCD Soundsystem, there’s something about KATTDO that still feels familiar all the same.
‘Ready, Steady, Go!’ is a punchy, party-fuelled pop-rock tune with warbling synths and a wicked bassline
The lead single and opener, ‘Aperture’ was unlike anything we had heard from Styles so far, but it felt like he was attempting to replicate a similar reaction to when ‘Sign of the Times’ was released as his debut single after going solo. There’s quite a contrast between a typical, radio-friendly One Direction track and a 6-minute piano-rock ballad, and the same can be said for Harry’s House’s ‘As It Was’ compared to this. Still, it left fans divided – ‘Aperture’ lacked the same replayability that his previous hits had boasted, but musically it was interesting, and artistically-speaking, Styles was doing something new (at least, for him). It also sets the tone for KATTDO decently – ‘Aperture’ is a moody, emotions-first track that’s slathered with subtle beats, almost lo-fi but not quite; an underwater dance-ballad.
The next two tracks, ‘American Girls’ and ‘Ready, Steady, Go!’, take this exact sentiment and soar with it – marking themselves as two of the strongest songs on this record. ‘American Girls’ is a melancholic but cathartic simple tune with catchy piano chords and a great hook, and it’s here that Styles’ vocals are able to take centre stage. Next, ‘Ready, Steady, Go!’ is a punchy, party-fuelled pop-rock tune with warbling synths and a wicked bassline – and yet, Styles also manages to sprinkle in a silky, crooning hook (“But you call Leon / You call it only in my head”) and a twinkling piano to complement the scratchy strain of the guitars.
Lyrics aside, the tunes themselves remain slick and electronic, clearly infused with a post-party, late-night melancholy, all on the dance floor
But while the production of KATTDO itself is satisfying – particularly towards the front-end of the album – it would be difficult to conjure up memorable lyrics. The next song, ‘Are You Listening Yet?’ suffers from an elongated sense of repetition that perhaps went amiss with the first three tracks, simply because they were stronger. Here, choruses, hooks and outros blend together (“Oh, are you listening yet? Oh, are you listening yet? / Now you’re all out of choices, are you listening yet?”), and Styles seems to oversteer towards the abstract here within his lyricism.
Styles is certainly saying a lot in KATTDO, but it’s simultaneously hard to grasp an actual story that’s being told, and it feels like he wants us to fill in the gaps of meaning ourselves. ‘Season 2 Weight Loss’ – a cascading anthem stolen straight from Sam Levinson’s Euphoria – suffers this fate with lyrics like “Aren’t you for sale if you’re cashin’ in cold? […] And the old hat gets harder to hold”. Similarly, ‘Dance No More’ – weirdly, the only disco-themed song on the album – begs us to “Get our feet wet / teach them all to respect their mothers”.
Lyrics aside –the tunes themselves remain slick and electronic, clearly infused with a post-party, late-night melancholy, all on the dance floor. Except, that is, two standout tracks: ‘Coming Up Roses’ and ‘Paint By Numbers’. While both are indeed strong ballads – ‘Coming Up Roses’ features a gorgeous, Disney-esque orchestra at the end – neither sonically match with the rest of the album’s hazy, experimental funk.
It’s familiar because he’s not shying away from what makes his music and performances so captivating – it’s charisma under a disco ball
This album is not a perfect one, but there are certainly tracks that are fun and full of Styles’ liberated swagger. It’s familiar because he’s not shying away from what makes his music and performances so captivating – it’s charisma under a disco ball, at the end of the night, alone, but charisma all the same. ‘Taste Back’ is a gorgeously shiny, sentimental pop hit with sweet lyrics that reminisce over a past relationship – an ex is “lonely in Paris” and Styles wonders if they “just need a little love”. ‘Pop’ moves like the older cousin of ‘Cinema’ off of Harry’s House, where obsessive, celebrity-hook-up gossip takes the reins (“Katie’s waiting to be your game-day saviour / First time tasting it / It’s nice to mix two flavours together / Mmmm”) – and the album’s closer, ‘Carla’s Song’, is a euphoric waterfall of harmonies and cries that echoes the same beauty as Styles’ sophomore closer, ‘Fine Line’.
Styles has a subtle, unscratched confidence here, and it’s impressive while setting foot into new, artistic territory. He might not be reinventing the wheel – these electronic sounds have lived before, and will live beyond him – but it’s a move into a more experimental vision where male pop stars are already infrequently dominating groovy, dance-pop spaces. Despite the synth-heavy, afterparty melancholy that swaying on the dance floor alone might bring you, it’s clear that Styles’ party is still just getting started.
Recommended listening: ‘Taste Back’
Words: Christopher Tang
TrueStyleMusic 