Harry Styles Album Review

On Friday, May 12, former One Direction singer Harry Styles released his debut solo-album entitled “Harry Styles,” featuring 40 minutes and 18 seconds of completely new solo material.The new album is quite a departure from the old, elementary-level music for which the 5-year boy band was commonly known for. In his takeoff from the band’s last few albums, Styles took numerous types of music styles and incorporated them into his music with a focus primarily on classic rock sounds. And, though some of it might seem harsh for the former pop-star, he only dips slightly into the realm of rock music, failing to make a stand as a new solo rock artist. His music seems slightly scared and tentative, and in a way, much of it feels forced.One aspect of the album slightly bothering to me is the general monotony of the music. It may be rock, but there is not enough individuality from song to song. Two of his slower, more passionate-sounding songs, including the debut-single “Sign of the Times” and “Ever Since New York” both begin on the same original chord. Though they are different songs, they feel very similar in their structure and flow. It makes it seem as though the producers placed five songs between the two to distract from their similarity.However, the music is catchy and is easy on the ear. “Sign of the Times” has a nice ring and speaks well to a lot of different audiences. Most of the songs have pretty good instrumentation and blend well with the style of his voice. I applaud him for this album as it is his first on his own, but it is easy to see that this album is more of a baby step into becoming a real, solo artist.