Calling music pop can mean lots of things, of course. It could mean jazz from the 1940s, watered-down drivel from the 1970s, or it could mean real artistic excellence, the kind that Harry Styles has provided at times. Does his new album, Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally, meets that definition?
Fans might have thought it would be based on the first single from the record. "Aperture" resembled the best of LCD Soundsystem with the track's bass-heavy, sneaky sexiness, and a video that was exceedingly bingable. So what if the lyrics weren't Morrissey-like? That wasn't the point.
To be sure, what we heard lyrically on "Aperture" would set the trend for the rest of the album. If one was looking for moody words that drove us deep into despair, Styles was going to disappoint. If we were searching for something that could be a positive vibe for an hour and make the gloomy world seemingly a better place for a short bit, Styles' latest was what we needed.
Harry Styles' Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally is a clear success
Following the previously released opening track, "American Girls" makes one want to get in a car, take a long drive, and just chill. The song doesn't strain for danger. It is perfectly happy being upbeat and delicious.
"Ready, Steady, Go!" is relatively short and as silly as the title suggests, but that is obviously intentional. Plus, the chaotic piano is laughably brilliant.
Every good album has one aspect in common: It sounds good and interesting. That isn't to say any given overly-slick record is good because too much production can mess up a good thing. Captain Beefheart's Trout Mask Replica won't fit most people's definition of a meticulously produced album, but it sounds the way it should, and that's the point.
It is in that area where Harry Styles truly excels. Along with longtime collaborator Kid Harpoon, Styles structures songs the way he wants with a keen eye for layering tracks for enjoyment, no matter if the listener is hearing the tune for the first time or the tenth. What you will hear upon the first stream of the work will not be the same as the fifth, and so on. The brilliance is in what lies underneath.
No one, of course, is going to listen to Harry Styles and Captain Beefheart and think the same amount of money that was poured into the making of one's albums is equivalent to the others, but Beefheart wanted messiness, Styles doesn't. Both can be great.
Yet, Styles also appreciates the fact that each track should sound somewhat dissimilar from the previous and the next. Hard rock is not on the table, and neither is country or jazz.
This is pure pop, but with a large dash of synth. While "Aperture" implies feistiness, "The Waiting Game" lacks danger and makes up for that with luscious beauty, with an extremely slight hint that it could turn into a Thompson Twins cover.
The maturity that Harry Styles has gained since leaving One Direction mirrors that of Justin Timberlake after Timberlake had left *NSYNC. Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally might be viewed as Styles' answer to Timberlake's FutureSex/LoveSounds.
One is dared not to dance to "Pop," and not to do the same to, of course, "Dance No More," but while the former stretches for New Wave, the latter could seemingly work for Chic. Different sensibilities for each track, but both are listenable and enjoyable.
Penultimate tune, "Paint By Numbers," is a total shift, but somehow finds a way to mix Nick Drake with latter-day Paul McCartney. The track is one of the few bittersweet tunes on the album, but still one that is worthy of being heard on its own.
Closer "Carla's Song" has the kind of beat one might imagine Harry Styles runs to when he does a marathon (of which he is also quite good at doing), but it is a nearly-perfect end to an album that attempts to do nothing but entertain. At that, just like Styles himself, it reaches a level that few other modern pop albums (or artists) do.
Rating: 8.5 outof 10