Two and a half years after the release of his sophomore album Fine Line, Harry Styles finally announced the news of his next album to be dropped, Harry’s House. The album is set to release on May 20, featuring 13 brand new tracks. Kicking off his new album announcement, he released one single, “As It Was,” about a week later.
There had been several hints that the artist was going to be releasing new music with his tour recently ending and his Coachella headline performance coming soon, so the timing seemed right for Styles to release new music.
Fans had been conspiring for months but what made fans more skeptical was a website, as well as an Instagram and Twitter account, being made with the tag name “You Are Home.” The website and social media pages are updated almost always on the daily, with new pictures being shown behind the door, curating more hints and theories.
Some of the tweets seem to look like possible lyrics in his new songs, some relating to homeliness. One of the tweets had lyrics from his newly released single, making it more plausible that other tweets are also lyrics from his songs.
After announcing the album, Styles released a 40-second trailer featuring him walking out onto a theater stage with a house rising behind him. The music in the video was played backwards, which played forwards is a subtle piano tune of what is most likely a part of a new track.
Promotional posters are being found across several cities around the world including New York, London and Barcelona, with lyrics from the first single. Lyrics “It’s not the same as it was” are placed next to a picture of the artist. He had done the same thing with his last album, keeping up with his consistency.
Remarkably, Harry’s House is also a song title of a Joni Mitchell song, which she has publicly approved and adored. With a reference of an impressionable artist and an album cover featuring some vintage furniture, there are some expectations of the album having some '70s aspects. Styles has noticeably had a favoring for vintage looks and sounds in the past, so his inspirations might shine through in this album.
The first single was released on April Fools Day, with a music video preceding its release. The song received generous reactions, making it become the most streamed song in the United States on its first day.
The song itself has a poppy upbeat sound but contains some personal, downhearted lyrics. Styles explained what the song meant in a radio interview with Audacy, saying “it’s about metamorphosis and embracing change, and former self and perspective shift, and all of that kind of stuff. And it just felt like the thing I wanted to say, and the thing I wanted to be doing, and the kind of music I wanted to make coming back.”
With 13 tracks on the album, it will be his longest album to date. Based on his previous album releases, the track list is usually released a few weeks following the initial announcement. Then proceeding the track list being revealed, a second single coming out might also be a possibility.
According to a radio interview with the musician, there are no collabs on the album, which is something he usually doesn’t do anyways. He has even stated that this is his favorite album that he has made so far. As he recounts on an interview with Sirius XM, it’s his more liberated project, stating “I feel like it’s the first time I’m making music and putting music out from a real place of personal freedom.”
According to Styles, he completed the album before his Fine Line tour even began, managing to keep the album a secret for over a year, whilst giving out hints and Easter eggs while on tour.
With his last album receiving several Grammy nominations and one win, this album has some pretty high expectations. But, with the artist himself stating that this is his proudest project yet, those expectations might be met.
