On a recent Friday morning, fans all over the world opened their phones after a night’s rest with more urgency than normal. For the first time since 2021, Harry Styles dropped his brand new album, Kiss All the Time Disco Occasionally, on Spotify.
This music comes in the wake of a long period of disappearance for the artist after his famous two-year world tour where he performed 15 consecutive nights at the iconic Madison Square Garden and a globally streamed closing night in Italy where he stated on stage: “After this I’m going to go away for a bit and you won’t see me.”
However, through pixilated paparazzi photos and an Instagram story here and there, many found him in and out of the studio shortly after his tour ended.
Styles and his team started teasing the new music late last year via a livestreamed YouTube video called “Forever Forever,” which highlighted his previous tour and sparked speculation among fans about why he uploaded to the platform for the first time since 2022. His team (HSHQ) also plastered signs with the words “We Belong Together” all over New York City, making many fans wonder its meaning.
Style’s first single, “Aperture,” dropped on January 23rd. The song promotes inclusivity and connects to its title, repeating “we belong together” throughout many verses.
From somber tracks like “Coming Up Roses” to more dance and EDM-type songs, such as single “Aperture” and “Dance On”, Kiss All the Time Disco occasionally embraces what life is like from a multitude of perspectives.
Specifically, “Paint by Number” memorializes growing up in the public eye and feeling like fame makes someone owe their life to the world, especially in the wake of losing a friend. However, the closing track, “Carla’s Song,” is an upbeat dedication to one of Style’s closest friends, highlighting how her life has just started, and there is so much good for her to find in the world. In an interview with ‘Zane Lowe, Styles stated, “‘Carla’ kind of just became, in so many ways, the most important part of the record to me.”
As expected, the album blew up on social media just hours after being released. Many compared the beats to those found in Berlin techno clubs like Berghain, where, in the same interview, Styles stated he frequented during his gap years from music.
Lindsay Zolaz, a critic with the New York Times, compared songs like “Pop” and “Are U Listening Yet” to tracks from LCD Soundsystem and Björk. “The lyrics on ‘Kiss All the Time’ sometimes resemble the seemingly life-altering epiphanies one has during a psychedelic trip, only to be revealed as airy truisms in the cold.”
On the surface, Style’s new songs mesh synth pop and symbolic ballads to create a space for his self-discovery, which he credits for the uniqueness of the music. Through his distinctive lyricism, Styles has blended the differing aesthetics of his life away from his career to create an album that emphasizes the versatility of his art and his love for making timeless music.
