Harry Styles

Harry Styles

On his superb solo debut, the One Direction heartthrob claims his turf as a true rock & roll prince, a sunshine superman, a cosmic dancer in touch with his introspective acoustic side as well as his glam flash.

‘Harry Styles’ is clearly a by-product of its creator’s musical tastes and interests.

Harry Styles feels comfortable and readily worn-in.

Reconciling the folkie and the rogue hardly seems like Harry’s priority; instead, the 23-year-old basks in the privilege of paying tribute to his many musical heroes, and trying on all the styles that fit.

On the one hand, it’s a wholly safe product, relying on familiar signifiers with decades of proven success. But it takes a bit of risk in asking Styles to take them all on himself, to present himself not as just a singer or frontman but also an artist, one who aspires to someday be considered among the pantheon of the greats.

Harry Styles is fun listening and will rightly soundtrack many a summer. But after demanding to be treated as a capital-A Artist, Harry Styles finds himself atop a pedestal without anything to say. Whether or not that changes, he sure is pretty to look at up there.

Harry Styles works exceedingly well as a modern pop album and an extension of the One D sound and brand, but as the kind of personal statement Styles wants to make, it comes very close, but ultimately falls just short.

With his debut, Styles manages to escape the notorious curse of former boy banders, turned leading men, creating an immersive, reference-fuelled tribute to classic rock for the millennial generation.

There are plenty of signs though that, given time, Styles could carve out quite a niche for himself in the confessional singer/songwriter bracket.

The One Direction member’s solo debut pays fine tribute to classic rock’n’roll and shows off his exceptional voice, if not his enigmatic persona.

Harry Styles’ debut album is a not-that-bad-actually mish-mash of Los Angeles’ style classic rock and ballads.

His debut album, Harry Styles, ticks every box on the Take Me Seriously checklist.

Styles has opened himself up, as best he can, to his audience, and by gathering a solid team around him to help achieve that he’s created an immersive, well-produced collection of songs that isn’t trying to prove anything in particular to anyone.