One of the year’s most anticipated pop albums is out today. Harry Styles has returned with Harry’s House, his funky, folky, synthetic-organic dispatch from domesticity. Styles only shared one song from the album ahead of time, the squiggly synth-pop #1 smash “As It Was.” That song is not a total outlier on Harry’s House, but the album is eclectic enough to encompass the brass-blasted, light-as-air ’80s adult-contemporary funk offering “Music For A Sushi Restaurant” and the lysergic ballad “Little Freak.” There are lots of references to food, sometimes metaphorical and sometimes quite literal. Hey, when “Watermelon Sugar” takes you to the top, you stick with what works.
Rachel Brodsky and I neglected to mention the epicurean lyrics while breaking down Harry’s House on this week’s episode of Callin Me Maybe, our live interactive podcast. But we touched on a lot, from the substance and texture of the album to prospective future singles to Styles’ place in the larger continuum of past and present pop stars. So make your tea and your toast and run back the episode here after streaming Harry’s House below. Oh, and look out for Rachel’s review of the album in Monday’s edition of The Week In Pop.
Harry’s House is out now on Columbia.
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