Emotional beats rise and fall with all the stakes of a refill on a glass of water. Fine Line, in part, deals with Styles’ breakup with the French model Camille Rowe, but he renders their romance in the primary colors of needing you, missing you, and remembering you. While the music wades into the mystic, his songwriting, pointedly, does not. There were easier, more callow roads for him to take. But to hear him sing sun-warmed, folk-tinged acoustic rock backed by only a handful of musicians is refreshing.

He has talked recently about his fear of making music after he left One Direction, the pressure of finding a radio single. 6,” the strange and alluring pre-chorus on “Lights Up,” a song that embodies Styles’ fluorescent charm, his swagger, his desire to be both weird and adored. Which is to say the actual sound of Fine Line is incredible, and most songs have at least one great moment to grab hold of: the clusters of background harmonies on “Golden,” the synth sweeps throughout “Sunflower, Vol. By corralling a new flock of influences-from ’70s power pop and Laurel Canyon folk-rock to the sort-of soul of Coldplay-Styles showcases his gift for making music that sounds like good music. It is also removed enough from One Direction to finally not be judged in relationship to them (unlike his spare and often lovely self-titled debut from 2017). It’s ostensibly his freedom record, one that indulges his every musical and psychedelic whim. For us, it’s the sound of a celebrity sticking his toes in the sand. For Styles, Fine Line is the sound of an artist plumbing the abyss.

He was also demonstrating the invincible oblivion of even our most charming pop stars. Styles was invoking his own artistic process, illuminating the lengths to which he hoped to travel on his second solo album, Fine Line.

Harry styles fine line