Review #491: Fine Line, Harry Styles
#491: Fine Line, Harry Styles
When Rolling Stone’s list of the Top 500 Albums came out, this record wasn’t even a year old. My sister actually attended this record’s release party in Los Angeles, and watched him perform these songs for the first time. Stevie Nicks was there!
Harry Styles was first a member of what Teen Vogue has called the fourth best boy band of all time, One Direction. You may know them from their biggest hit, “What Makes You Beautiful,” a song about how a woman’s beauty hinges on her low self-esteem. 1D had a somewhat acrimonious breakup, but Harry Styles has always been gracious about his former bandmates. Besides, 1D had to die so Harry Styles could live! So that he could star in Dunkirk and Don’t Worry Darling!
Styles’ first solo, self-titled album was a huge hit. My sister made me listen to it, and I enjoyed it, mostly loving the hit single “Sign of the Times” and its music video, where Styles flies like a bird. His sophomore record is, as Styles says, “all about having sex and feeling sad.” Makes sense, because this record was inspired by his breakup with model Camille Row. (Also by Styles’ newfound love of psychedelic mushrooms.)
So first, the sex songs. “Golden” tries to capture the heady feeling of falling in love, and “Sunflower, Vol. 6” shows the image of a couple dancing with abandon in the kitchen. “Watermelon Sugar” has a sunny, innocent feel, but is definitely about cunnilingus. Harry Styles is apparently a friend to women everywhere; the models starring in the music video called him a “consent king.” See also the lovely, unreciprocal “Adore You,” which had a viral guerilla marketing campaign.
Then there are the sad, wistful, lonely songs, like “To Be So Lonely” and “She.” “Cherry” is another heartbreaker, most obviously directed at his ex-girlfriend than any other song on the record — it features her voice, for crying out loud. Not every sad song is a breakup song, though. “Falling” is a song about not liking the person you’re becoming: What if I’m someone I don’t want around? Meanwhile, although “Lights Up” sounds jubilant, there are questions of identity at the center: Do you know who you are? See also the cryptic “Fine Line,” which might be a love song but also might be an unrequited love song: Spreading you open/ Is the only way of knowing you. Okay then!
But the sunny, hippy-dippy vibes prevail. See “Treat People With Kindness,” which is so sweet and optimistic I almost don’t mind the Sesame Street-style chorus from indie band Lucius. Then there’s “Canyon Moon,” the most Laurel Canyony song on the record. It’s so Laurel Canyony, in fact, because Styles hunted down the very woman who built Joni Mitchell’s dulcimer and had her give him lessons. Then she built Styles his own dulcimer, and he used it on this track.
I know Harry Styles has a cushy life, but I kind of feel for him, too: he’s one of the most scrutinized men on the planet. His relationship with T-Swift is basically public domain at this point, and people are constantly speculating on his sexuality. I don’t care if he wears a dress, it still feels super inappropriate to me. On the bright side, he finally reached peak popularity: Noel Gallagher insulted him. Someday, I hope to be famous enough for Noel Gallagher to insult me.
