It was evident from the first strains of “Aperture” that Harry Styles’ new album would not be the same as it was.
Where his Grammy-winning “Harry’s House” danced with taut melodies, inescapable hooks and blasts of brass (we still love you, “Music for a Sushi Restaurant”), Styles’ fourth solo album, “Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally,” is as quirky and brow-furrowing as its title.
That isn’t a criticism, just the acknowledgement that Styles’ first release in four years, out March 6, takes a hard turn into electronic music meshed with Dark Wave ‘80s influences.
Breezy pop, this is not. But it is a showcase for an artist unafraid to stretch and plunge into the deep end.
The thumping “Aperture” arrived as a slow-burn song that already sounded like a remix, yet its unconventionality didn’t prevent it from racing to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in February (along with the Global 200, Streaming Songs and Digital Song Sales chart).
