Harry Styles through the years By: Sofia Gaitan “It'd be so sweet if things just stayed the same,” Harry Styles sings in “Lights Up”. Harry Edward Styles is a British singer, songwriter, actor and recently a Grammy award winner, who has impacted the music industry with his two albums. Before becoming a solo artist, he was part of the boy group One Direction, formed by Simon Cowell in 2o10 after the British reality TV competition X-Factor. The band became an instant sensation, but ultimately parted ways in August 2015. Styles is putting his solo work on full display and is outshining the rest of his former bandmates. Up All Night-2011 Harry Styles at three different points in time. Four- 2014 “Sign of the Time” serves as a soft rock Four is the last album One Direction made all together as a band, which pushed ballad. It is beautifully written and gives raw emotion. It shows how much passion away from their usual bubblegum pop he has toward his art. This album also songs and boyish teens, and moved gives fun songs like “Kiwi”, “Carolina”, toward manhood. It tries something new “Woman”, “Only Angel”. like pop rock meets folk, showing what These songs make your heart ache in the members are capable of in terms of the best way possible and want to get up songwriting and found which voice fits and dance and literally want to make you more to the songs. go pursue a modeling career because of Up All Night is One Direction’s debut the adrenaline rush and confidence you album, where Styles’ voice is heard get from listening to “Kiwi”, “Carolina”, alongside his bandmates. Their most and “Only Angel”. Songs like “Two known song “What Makes You Beautiful,” Ghosts”, “Ever Since New York”, and has the 17-year-old Styles crooning about “Sweet Creature” make you stare at the being mesmerized by a girl who doesn’t ceiling for five hours and rethink your know her own beauty. entire life. This album has classic boy band Then songs like “Meet Me in the sounds and is comparable to classics like Hallway” and “From the Dining Table” NSYNC and Backstreet Boys. make you cry in a cool way. It’s open and Harry Styles- 2017 vulnerable but also safe and even going Harry Styles is Style’s solo debut out of his comfort zone to write this album, which breaks away from One album. For it being his debut album his Direction’s sound. It displays more of Styles as the artist, rather than Styles from work is immaculate it takes the person into a different world. One Direction. Fine Line-2019 He also has complete creative freedom Fine Line is Styles’ sophomore album. compared when he was with One This album is just hands down the best Direction, where management had album to come out in 2019. He really complete creative control. The lead single
outdid himself on this album. There are no skips on this album. Every song is an instant classic and something that you could listen to over and over again and never get tired of. The title of the album “Fine Line” means trying to find the fine line between being content and thriving for more, between happy and sad and all of the other things life throws towards your way. It shows a new side to Styles, especially in the song “Lights Up”, which is about self-acceptance and being open with one’s self. “Golden” is one of the best album openers. “Fine Line” is a perfect closing song. In fact, there simply couldn’t be a better way to close the album. It was taken on a journey after going through everything on the album and “Fine Line” kind of just wrapped it up and said, “Yeah all this stuff happened to me but it's going to be okay. I'm growing and learning.” That's why the orchestra build throughout the last few minutes is just beautiful, giving an optimistic view of the future. It's like an epic ending to a movie.
