A bright sunshiny collection of effortless pop, Harry Styles third album is also the first Harry Styles album where he sounds truly comfortable as a solo artist. The scat singing and synth horns on Music For A Sushi Restaurant capture his quirky charisma; while Boyfriends’ critique of toxic masculinity is the song every girl wishes Harry would sing to her while he painted their toenails.
Unusually for a big pop album, Styles’ voice is mellow and restrained, tapping into his love of Fleetwood Mac and Ram-era Paul McCartney for stylistic cues, instead of belting out the hooks, Adele-style. It makes the album less immediate than you might expect, but repeated listens pay off.
Not my words, the words of the Mercury Music Awards.
