Harry Styles Dances Through Nostalgia on ‘Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally’
With the release of “Aperture,” the lead single from Harry Styles’ latest album, eager listeners tuned in to discover what a nearly four year hiatus had in store for them. With a hypnotic rhythm and the encouraging mantra “we belong together” pulsing through electronic beats unlike anything Styles had released before, “Aperture” opened the lens to welcome us into a world where we can all dance like no one’s watching: “It's best you know what you don’t/Aperture lets the light in.” Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally gives us the key and permission to stay in the light as long as we please.
Styles learns to embrace nostalgia and vulnerability on Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally. He captures intimate moments from personal relationships and his blinding life in the spotlight. In flashes of upbeat, synth-pop tracks and cinematic swells, grounded by cathartic lyrics and warm vocals, Styles exposes his complex relationship with fame and romance, not searching for a solution, but rather a space for everything to exist in a harmony worth dancing to. In his exploration, Styles encourages listeners, and himself, to embrace the endless love, joy, and community that the world has to offer—deciding once and for all that these emotions are what matter the most.
Photo by Johnny Dufort
Styles combines his dynamic relationship between fame and art with his personal relationships to create a track list brimming with ruminations on how one aspect of his life affects the other and vice versa. Styles’ endearing rockstar persona, quirky fashion, and charming sense of humor have made him a beloved figure within the music industry and across pop culture, but he wonders if that can evolve. “Season 2 Weight Loss” shows Styles shedding his old skin, reflecting the shift into a more techno-pop infused sound throughout the album. He forces himself to jump into the next chapter of his life and career as he fights with the voices in his head and around him that urge him not to: “It's hard to tell when the thoughts are my own/And the old hat/gets harder to hold.” “Paint By Numbers” shares a similar sentiment in that Styles has consistently felt controlled to do and say certain things while in the public eye, but he wants to paint outside of the lines and let his heart guide his decisions: “It's a lifetime of learning to paint by numbers/And watching the colours run.”
In a mellow instrumental shift, “Paint By Numbers” illustrates Styles’ coexisting gratitude for the career he has built from a young age and his longing for simpler times. One Direction skyrocketed Styles into fame, along with his bandmates Zayn Malik, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, and Liam Payne. A six-year whirlwind of five albums and several world tours quickly made the band a favorite among millions around the world. For many fans, One Direction represents the golden days of childhood where your biggest concern was when you would hang out with your friends again. Styles is fueled by a similar nostalgia as he reflects on what it feels like to be on the receiving end of such an emotional admiration: “When they put an image in your head, and now you're stuck with it/You're the luckiest, oh, the irony/Holding the weight of the American children whose hearts you break.”
“Dance No More,” while featuring a more bubbly and groovy rhythm, echoes similar themes as Styles addresses society’s expectations for him to provide constant entertainment for others: “Move it side to side with your hands up high/Keep your customer satisfied and live your life.” But Styles wants to dance and have fun too! He desires community, camaraderie, and love just like everyone else: “We wanna dance with all our friends/DJs don't dance no more/It's feeling like the music has been Heaven sent/And that there's no difference in between the tears and the sweat.”
Photo by Stella Blackmon
His feelings about life in the spotlight combined with how this aspect effects his romantic life accumulate in “American Girls,” which features a dynamic pop-rock blend of instrumentals and resonant vocals reminiscent of his One Direction days. Styles touches on how although he is known all over the world, and has built a community of fans that feel like they know him personally, he remains doubtful that anyone sees who he truly is: “‘I've known you for ages,’ it's all that I've heard.”
The accompanying music video presents a visual medium for Styles to detail his experience and relationship with the entertainment industry. Set on the film set of what appears to be a blockbuster action movie in-the-making, the video cuts between shots of Styles acting out James Bond-worthy stunts in front of a blue screen and stunt performers executing the tricks flawlessly in real life. The nature of the music video sees Styles presenting as the person the public knows, whereas the stunt performers represent the facets of his life the public doesn’t see.
“American Girls” Official Music Video Directed by James Mackel
“Are You Listening Yet?” moves the album into a space where Styles reflects on his romantic relationships. Set to a steady drum beat and racing tempo, the track finds Styles urging himself, and listeners, to self-reflect and make the necessary changes to lead a more fulfilling life: “Now you're all out of choices, are you listening yet?/Between your hеad and heart and somewherе else instead/Oh, can you hear the voice, the one inside your head?/Oh, are you listening yet? Oh, are you listening yet?” With similarly punchy rhythms, “Ready, Steady, Go!” and “Pop” capture the hot and slinky intimacy and passion of a fresh romance. Both tracks build a suggestive atmosphere, blazing with sexy electronic instrumentals and cheeky vocals.
Hesitation and complications arise in “Taste Back” and “The Waiting Game” when Styles begins to analyze how past relationships ended. “Taste Back” playfully calls out a tendency for people to float in and out of each others lives. While often with wavering intentions, this behavior is still fueled by the temptation to rekindle old feelings and ultimately find love and connection: “Must be lonely out in Paris if you talk like that/It was tough with the time, but you called me back/And you know that you can tell me, I can take that/Did you get your taste back?/Or do you just need a little love?/You just need a little love, you just need a little love.”
“The Waiting Game” features a mesmerizing instrumental track that reflects the repetitive nature of the song’s subject. Falling back into old habits, the subject circles around their insecurities and remains stagnant instead of conquering their fears in order to grow: “You can romanticise your shortcomings, ignore your agency to stop/Write a ballad with the details while skimming off the top/A personality, considering you've been a little over-honest lately/And you apologise, a dirty clown.”
Photo by Laura Jane Coulson
Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally crescendos with “Coming Up Roses” into a swirling universe where time stands still. A graceful, ticking instrumental builds into a magical swell of string instrumentals, mimicking the sound and pressure of a clock as it appears to speed up before we have had ample time to appreciate the present. Styles holds on to a relationship that grows further apart, attempting to mend their differences. For just a moment, there is infinite time and space for daydreaming and finding the right words: “Just for tonight, let's go hangover chasing/And I'll talk your ear off about why it's safe/As I fumble my words and fall flat on my face through the truth.” A beautiful wave of string instrumentals sweeps listeners away into a temporary pause for one final moment of intimacy and connection before confronting reality and the fate of a shattered relationship.
“Carla’s Song” rightfully concludes Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally with an inspiring call to action. Prompted by a moment he shared with his friend Carla, in which he introduced her to an album that he grew up listening to but that she had never heard before, the song serves as a reminder to Styles of the joy that art and music brings him and others: “Saw the light in the gold that you discovered/Through your eyes, in awe/Melodies like the tide.” Styles then encourages listeners to explore the world, embrace what you like, and be passionate without fear or shame: “It's all waiting there for you/Can you hear that voice delivering the news?/It's all waiting there for you.” The world is overflowing with so much love and joy, and all we need to do is live fearlessly and dance like no one is watching.
