One Direction star, Harry Styles, makes a new solo debut

Harry Styles, the British pop artist, recently released his second solo album at the end
of 2019. Fine Line, Styles’ long anticipated album, was intended to have a greater symbolic and

personal meaning than his previous work, Harry Styles.

Styles gained fame after finishing third place on The X Factor as a member of One
Direction. Following their loss, One Direction released five studio albums and saw great
success during their five years together, being the only group to have their first four albums
reach the number one spot on Billboard’s 200 albums chart. Additionally, their final tour
became the highest grossing tour of all time by a vocal group and still remains so to this day. In
2015, however, One Direction went on an extended hiatus and the members, including Styles,
began their own solo careers.
“I prefer Harry Styles as a solo artist because this outlet has really given him a chance
to express himself, improving the quality of his music,” said sophomore Sadie Mandel.
In 2017, Harry Styles released his self-titled debut album and embarked on his first
solo tour. Harry Styles hit number one in many countries, including the U.S. and the U.K., and
received spots on many best albums of 2017 lists. During this time, Styles also began his
acting career and starred in the film Dunkirk.
Before the initial release of Fine Line in mid December, Harry Styles debuted three
singles that would be featured on the album. The first was “Lights Up”, which was released in
October. The release was promoted on billboards around the world stating, “Do you know who
you are?”, giving fans the idea that the song and album would reveal unknown parts of Styles’
personal life, including past relationships.
An article in The Guardian describes “Lights Up” as “… laced with surprises – the looping,
stilted pre-chorus cracks the easy mood, and even the sound of a gospel choir gets processed
to an unnerving intensity – and sounds nothing like his blandly secular British male peers, or the
narcotised synth-pop that’s dominated this year.”
Following the release of “Lights Up”, Styles debuted the album’s second single,
“Watermelon Sugar”, on Saturday Night Live in November.
The last song that Styles released before the album debuted was “Adore You”. It came
out a week before the album and the music video debuted the same day. It features a narration
by Spanish pop artist Rosalía. The song was performed for the first time the day after its
release on The Graham Norton Show.
Fine Line officially came out on December 13. There are many different styles
incorporated in the album, including rock, psychedelic pop, folk, soul, funk, and indie pop.
“‘Sunflower, Vol.6’ is my favorite, and many of my friends agree. It’s a twist on a normal
pop song that is so overplayed these days on the radio or streaming services,” said sophomore
Emily Benson-Tyler.
The album has already become one of Harry Styles’ biggest successes. It is currently
number three on the UK Albums chart and Styles’ second consecutive number one album in the
US. The album had the third largest sales week of 2019 and broke the record as the biggest
debut of a British male artist. Additionally, Fine Line became the first number one on the
Billboard 200 in the 2020s.
In April, Styles will begin his Harry Styles Love On Tour to support Fine Line. He will
perform over 75 shows in Europe, North America, and Latin America.