Harry Styles On His Own and Making it Big

     After about one year of constant waiting and wondering what happened to their favorite band, One Direction fans finally were presented with new singles and albums by their four favorite people. However, these new releases were not music by One Direction, but as works solely by Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, Liam Payne, and Harry Styles. Though Niall, Louis, and Liam wrote and recorded amazing songs in 2017, Harry Styles was the first of the four to release an entire album.

     Harry’s solo career began the day he released his very first single, “Sign of the Times” on April 7, 2017. The very first time I heard this song, I was immediately dying to know when Harry would release more music because I loved “Sign of the Times” so much. This song is not like a One Direction song. It is filled with a lot of piano, drums, guitar, and even a choir that can be heard towards the end of the song. Ultimately, this song had a lot of passion and it was a perfect first single for Harry to show off his promise and talent as solo artist and songwriter. As time went on, I grew even more eager to hear Harry’s voice in another one of his masterpieces. May 2nd finally rolled around and Harry’s second single, “Sweet Creature” was released. Out of all the songs in Harry’s self-titled album, “Sweet Creature” is easily my favorite song, though it is hard to choose because they are all so great. Both “Sign of the Times” and “Sweet Creature” have similar slow tempos which made me question what his full album would be like at times. Would they all be slow songs? Will the songs be nothing like the One Direction music I am used to listening to? So many more questions rolled around in my brain as I anxiously waited for the rest of Harry’s album that would arrive later that month.

     Eventually, after probably the longest 10 days ever for all of Harry’s fans, his very first, full, solo album had been released on May 12, 2017. The 10 songs on the full album include, “Meet Me in the Hallway”, “Sign of the Times”, “Carolina”, “Two Ghosts”,  “Sweet Creature”, “Only Angel”, “Kiwi”, “Ever Since New York”, “Woman”, and “From the Dining Table”. Every song had a signature style so that no two songs would sound the same. Particularly, songs like “Kiwi” and “Only Angel” had more of a rock-type style, and others like “Every Since New York” and “Two Ghosts” were more calm and relaxed. “Carolina” was very cheerful and upbeat; it told an adorable story about a girl named Townes that Harry had been set up with one day in California.

     The fact that Harry Styles’ first attempt at a solo album was so great shows that he has much promise and he does not need the rest of One Direction to back him up. I definitely believe Harry will continue to be successful on his own, no matter how much I want One Direction to reunite one day. You can listen to and download Harry’s new album on iTunes and Spotify.