Harry Styles (self-titled)

Vinyl LP

From Andrew Roach:

Somehow, Harry Styles (formerly of the saccharine pop act One Direction) has released a great debut solo album. Somehow, he’s manged to channel diverse influences in to something resembling an excellent rock album. You can hear bits of classic 70s funk, you can hear The Stones, Pink Floyd, and The Beatles.

You can, unfortunately, also hear the studio. Or, rather, you can hear the excesses in production value that are afforded by being formerly of One Direction. The songs on this record are pretty great. The instrumentation is interesting. The delivery is excellent. The production is as overblown as you would expect on a blockbuster pop album.

If you can get past the slick production, though, there is a solid rock album hiding underneath it. It’s surprising, it’s refreshing, it’s interesting. Go give it a shot.

From Wikipedia:

Harry Styles is the debut studio album by English singer and songwriter Harry Styles. The album was released on 12 May 2017, through Columbia Records and Erskine. For the album, Styles worked with producers Jeff Bhasker, Alex Salibian, Tyler Johnson and Kid Harpoon.

Lyrically, Harry Styles’ themes is dominated by focus on women and relationships. The record has been described by various publications as influenced by music from the 1960s and 1970s, including classic rock and singer-songwriter ballads. It was preceded by the release of its lead single, “Sign of the Times”, while “Two Ghosts” and “Kiwi” served as the second and third worldwide singles, respectively. In support of the album, Styles embarked on his first headlining concert tour, Harry Styles: Live on Tour.

The album received generally positive reviews from music critics and debuted atop the charts in several countries, including Australia, Canada, the UK and the US. It has been certified platinum in the UK, the US, Australia, Canada, Italy, Brazil, Denmark, Poland, and Mexico. According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), Harry Styles was the ninth global best-selling album of 2017 with sales of one million copies.