Harry Styles Breaks New Ground with ‘Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally’
There’s one experience Harry Styles will likely never have: losing himself in the crowd at one of his own concerts. It’s a paradox he’s often pondered, and one that seems to have deeply informed his fourth solo album, Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally. This isn’t just another collection of songs; it’s an attempt to capture the anonymous exhilaration of being in the audience, a sonic landscape designed for shared experience.
Following the critical and commercial success of 2022’s Harry’s House, which earned him a Grammy Award for Album of the Year, Styles takes a bold turn. He’s traded some of the synth-pop sheen for more adventurous, and often electronic, textures. The album, born from sessions in Berlin with longtime producer Kid Harpoon and Tyler Johnson starting in early 2025, reflects the city’s vibrant electronic music scene. Styles’ playlists during this period included artists like Four Tet, Floating Points, Jamie xx, and even techno heavyweights Ben Klock and Fadi Mohem.
A Meditative and Moody Experience
The result is an album that prioritizes mood and atmosphere. Repetitive, driving rhythms – arpeggiated synths and pulsing bass – create a near-meditative state. Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally is remarkably consistent in its pursuit of evoking feeling without sacrificing musicality. The opening track, “Aperture,” is a perfect example – a five-minute slow burn that builds with accelerating synths, inspired in part by LCD Soundsystem and The Durutti Column. It’s a song that suggests freedom lies in anonymity, in the collective energy of a dance floor.
The album truly shines in its latter half. “Dance No More” is a rush of dopamine, a funky track that practically demands movement, echoing the energy of Rick James’ “Super Freak” and the spirit of drag culture. “Ready, Steady, Go!” bursts with maximalist production and Spanish guitars, while “Pop” is a lustful, electric delight. Hot Chip’s influence is particularly noticeable here.
Experimentation and Vulnerability
Styles isn’t afraid to experiment. Sometimes, his voice is submerged in the ambitious production, as on “Season 2 Weight Loss.” At other times, it’s front and center, particularly on “Coming Up Roses,” a song he wrote entirely on his own, featuring a stunning 39-piece orchestral arrangement by Jules Buckley. Familiar elements of Styles’ songwriting emerge too, like the romanticism of “Coming Up Roses” and lyrical nods to Simon & Garfunkel on “Carla’s Song” and “Dance No More.”
He also revisits his singer-songwriter roots with “Paint By Numbers,” a moment reminiscent of “Matilda,” featuring acoustic guitar and introspective lyrics. “Oh, what a gift it is to be noticed,” he sings, a simple statement that becomes a profound realization: “But it’s nothing to do with me.” This encapsulates the album’s core theme – fame as a conduit for connection, not its source.
A Subversive and Unexpected Album
Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally is a subversive album, one that deliberately avoids contemporary pop star conventions. It’s a risk that may divide his fanbase, but it’s a risk that ultimately pays off. While unrestrained at times, the album’s overall approach is understated, as seen in tracks like “Are You Listening Yet?” and “American Girls.” Styles has crafted an album that feels genuinely free, unshackled from expectation. Even amidst the haze of a crowded nightclub, he remains Harry Styles, but the effort to transcend expectation is palpable – and exhilarating.
Official Video for “American Girls” by Harry Styles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ (Example Link)
Official Video for “Aperture” by Harry Styles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ (Example Link)
Rating: Three and a half stars out of five.
On Repeat: “Pop,” “Dance No More”
Skip It: “Taste Back,” “The Waiting Game”
For Fans Of: Residencies, loosening your necktie, 2010s electro-indie
