Etcetera OG ✎ COMPLETE

; harry styles "harry styles" album review

         Here we are. I'm not going to waste your time with a big intro. We've all waited long enough for this album. Just know that this is my ghost communicating with you from the afterlife.

         Apart from "Sign of the Times," "Sweet Creature," "Ever Since New York," and "Carolina," these reviews are all first-listen thoughts. Please keep in mind that my opinions tend to change the more I listen to certain songs, so it's very likely I'll wind up loving tracks that don't have super high ratings right away.

         As I'm writing this right now, there's a half hour yet before the album is officially released and I'm just...I'm sweating.

         Okay. Moving on.

01: MEET ME IN THE HALLWAY – 8.5/10

What a ghostly opening to an album. It's such an interesting cross between acoustic and layered vocally in a way that acoustic tracks generally aren't. The chorus is something that'll be fun to shout along with him during car rides, but I have to say I'm surprised this took the opening spot. It's not that it's a bad song (obviously), it just leaves listeners trying to figure out where the album will go from here. Which actually could be a good thing, I suppose. Still trying to decide if it's about drugs ruining a relationship or not. Favorite lyrics: 'Cause once you go without it, nothing else will do.

02: SIGN OF THE TIMES – 10/10

I was so surprised the first time I heard this, I won't even lie. But it was such a sweet surprise. Even listening to it now, after so many times, I'm still in love. My favorite thing about it is that it feels like I'm listening to the progression of a movie, from start to tragedy to finale. The drums leading up to the chorus, the powerful vocals at the end... The song just continues to build and I feel like it does everything it set out to do so well, you know? He should have kept the lyrics to "why are we always fucking running from the bullets." It packs a punch somehow even more than the current lyrics. Anyway, yeah, you've all heard it already and it's killer, so. Favorite lyrics: We could meet again somewhere, somewhere far away from here.

03: CAROLINA – 10/10

Okay listen. I was not prepared for this. His voice in the verses, the oh yeah's, the la-la-la's...how dare he. It's such a jam and it takes me back to my hometown circa 2000. Why? God knows honestly, but the music and the vibe puts me in the passenger seat of my dad's truck (which became my truck when I was older) with the windows down while we're cruising through the one street in town, waving occasionally to someone I know in a parking lot we pass or the sidewalk outside the post office. It's very retro and feel-good, and I hope Diana and Olivia love their new friend. Favorite lyric: There's not a drink that I think could sink her. How would I tell her that she's all I think about?

04: TWO GHOSTS – 10/10

I'm sorry, but did I ask for Harry to rip my Larrie heart out and step on it repeatedly? No. I didn't. God, no wonder they're trying to sell this as a Haylor song. This is more of a Larry song than "If I Could Fly" or "Home" was and if you've got ears and a brain then there's no way you can deny what either of those songs were about. I saw so much hype about this on Tumblr although I could never figure out why everyone was freaking about this song in particular, and now I get it. What a great song, especially for having written it three years ago. He was what, twenty? Props, Harold. This is a good one. Favorite lyrics: Tastes so sweet, looks so real. Sounds like something that I used to feel.