Released on Friday, “Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally.” by Harry Styles takes its title literally, rarely sounding like disco. A cloudy haze of reverbed synths, Styles’ fourth album is a dance-pop moving walkway heading towards a club’s exit.
Styles announced this record on Jan. 15, releasing the lead single “Aperture” on Jan. 23. Upon first listen, the LCD Soundsystem-inspired track alluded to Styles’ recent recreational activities.
Styles frivolously cites the record’s inspiration to his time in Berghain, a prestigious nightclub in Berlin, Germany. The album, however, suggests Styles spent more time romanticising the backrooms — perhaps kissing strangers — than the dancefloor.
Sonically, many of these tracks build towards their climaxes without gratification, a notable feature of the lead single. The album’s track, “Are You Listening Yet?” embodies this while describing the inner thoughts that spoil one’s confidence and satisfaction. With a snare on the backbeat, Styles repeats the question, “Oh, can you hear the voice, the one inside your head? / Oh, are you listening yet? Oh, are you listening yet?”
While Styles asks the question to symbolize his anxieties — notably left unresolved — it doesn’t separate the song from its somewhat confusing lyrics. “God knows your life is on the brink and your therapist’s well-fed / The fix of all fixes, un-intimate sex” and “It’s like you’re taking up arms, but the message is wet / It sounds inviting, but you don’t believe in it yet.”
This disjointed songwriting resurfaces throughout the album, occasionally finding itself within a hook, even though the emphatic pop-choruses found all over his previous records are notably scarce here.
“Pop” embodies its title quite well as a catchy track under a distorted bass, simple kick-drum and synth. Styles sings “I wanted to behave / But I know I’ll do it again / I know I’ll do it again, it’s making me pop (Pop).” While it is catchy, the chorus feeds another lackluster stylistic choice on the record: muffled vocals beneath everything else.
“American Girls” notably suffers from a restricted vocal mix in its chorus. “Season 2 Weight Loss” and “Aperture” also carry this throughout their verses, proceeding to blend Styles with the House Gospel Choir at the chorus, occasionally covering him up.
This choice proves to be intentional on “Dance No More” as Styles and the choir sing a call-and-response style chorus. Over a beat reminiscent of Mark Ronson’s “Uptown Funk (feat. Bruno Mars),” the two exchange: “‘DJs don’t dance no more,’ they said / DJs don’t dance no more.” While dull vocal mixing may have been a purposeful gesture from Styles, the question remains unanswered as to why.
Crying in the bar bathroom mirror rather than dancing near the boombox, the album features two distinct ballads. On “Coming Up Roses” and “Paint By Numbers,” Styles notes that every coin has two sides, even one used for the public restroom at a European club.
The first stands out with its expansive outro featuring a 30-piece orchestra. In waltz form, Styles uses string articulations to bring a percussive element to the track, omitting any actual drums.
“Paint By Numbers” is a reflective, bittersweet theme of the struggles for individuality one faces in the spotlight. While the primary metaphor of the song is well worded, Styles allows for some misplaced writing later in the song, singing, “It’s a lifetime of picking from one or the other / Kids with water guns, watch them run.”
The album shines when Styles is clearly having fun, embracing the refreshing nature of trying something new. “Ready, Steady, Go!” is one of the standout tracks as Styles alludes to sensual outings over an alluring bass groove. The synths repeat a broken descending pattern similar to the distant voices and muffled music heard outside the club.
The chorus features a distorted vocal performance, a delightful alternative from Styles’ typical clean-cut vocals. While Styles’ vocal performance here is nothing he hasn’t done before, the effects on his voice throughout is admirable.
Styles is at his best when trying something new with full intention, a heart this album often lacks. In an interview with Zane Lowe and Apple Music, Styles expressed the existential draw of departing his 20s and entering a stage of his life that is radically different from those surrounding his personal life.
While this theme shines through on some of the writing, the disposable one-liners dampen its effect. The album is distinct for its production, which is a fun redirection for Styles, even when it feels somewhat safe.
While Styles may be tearing up the dancefloor, “Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally.” is more of the soundtrack to an after-party rather than the sounds of the club itself.