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“Kiss All The Time. Disco Occasionally” comes out!


Disclaimer: While this is a fact-based preview of the album, my opinion is included.


It’s official: “Kiss All The Time, Disco Occasionally” is out! Harry Styles’s 4th studio album was released last Thursday night, March 6th,  and came out with a bang. Five years in the making, it was met with satisfaction to all of Style’s eager fans. Out of the twelve tracks, I definitely have my favorites, so here’s a preview (in order of the tracklist) of the songs:


Opening the album, “Aperture" was released as a single in January of this year, and started the trek for Style’s pop comeback. Its pumping beat, simple lyrics, and charting sensation are sounds that accompany themes of coming into a relationship with an open mind and “embracing vulnerability and the unknown” (Genius lyrics).


Second on the tracklist, “American Girls” is the second song on the album with a music video along  with Aperture (so far!), and displays a fun, upbeat, and friendly representation of watching friends fall in love. Styles discussed this in an interview with Apple Music host Zane Lowe , saying that, despite its poppy sound, it’s a ballad about feeling lonely while everyone around you is settling down and getting married. This one is my personal favorite, and I highly recommend watching the video.


“Ready, Steady, Go!” is the third track, and is a vastly different sound and theme than the previous two. It’s on the shorter end of both lyrics and time, and describes a feeling of moving into a new relationship far too fast.


“Are You Listening Yet?” is mind-warping, self-reflective, and lively, all while slowly progressing towards insanity at the end of the track. In the outro, Styles continuously repeats the title until the listener is “truly listening”, and expresses his past struggles with maintaining his mental health during the frenzy of touring. 


Fifth on the album, “Taste Back" is a love song about being transparent in a relationship and being ready to be truthful and honest even when it’s not the right time. In the chorus, he sings, “And you know that you can tell me, I can take that,” which is about being in a relationship mature enough to understand whether or not to get back together or go apart from each other.


Next, “The Waiting Game,” a soft song about being stuck in a relationship cycle of self-sabotage and putting yourself in a great situation - just to have it all “add[s] up to nothin’.”


The award for most unusual title definitely goes to “Season 2 Weight Loss,” but Styles explained in the Apple Music interview that it focuses on the “idea of just coming back is like returning, as like, this is the same character, but suddenly he has cheekbones.”  He also explains that he took a break from releasing music to return as a new version of himself as an artist.


“Coming Up Roses,” the first song on the album with a quieter, less disco-y sound, is a soft, melodic ballad about finding the special and “right” person for you. It conveys trying to enjoy one special moment without any strings attached, and facing the consequences.


“Pop” is by far one of the most upbeat songs, however with few deeper meanings, (that we know of), and is mainly about having new relationships and possibly being “over [your] head.”


Near the end of the album, "Dance No More" defines Styles’s disco era, and evokes a feeling of letting loose and going to “dance with all our friends.” When he spoke in the Apple Music interview, he recalled a time of “feeling so unbelievably free and like safe, that I kind of just had my hands in the air, and my eyes closed, and I just felt these tears like streaming down my face.”


“Paint By Numbers” is another acoustic-heavy number about self-reflection and balancing fame, while enjoying life and appreciating it. The song has a different undertone, with painting by numbers signifying others controlling your life and choosing where you should fill in the colors (genius lyrics).


Closing out the album, “Carla’s Song” is a nod to both Simon & Garfunkel and his friend Carla, who was introduced to the duo by Styles and instantly loved it. The song contains themes of enjoying and appreciating life, while laying out a life for others.


Overall, I really enjoyed this album and I hope you will too! To learn more about the lyrics' meanings, Genius Lyrics is a great site that annotates songs to help listeners understand.


note: this interview is also available on YouTube

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