Where’s The Disco?: Harry Styles’ “Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally”
Album Review ★ Kenzie Gay ★ @kenzwrites ★ 5 Minutes
After 4 years, the wait is finally over. Harry Styles, the rumored “New King of Pop” following Michael Jackson (for the record: I do not agree with this. MJ will always be king), has finally come out of a brief hiatus to release his fourth studio album: Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally. Released under Columbia Records on March 6th, the album has been all the buzz amongst fans, critics, and the music world as a whole over the last few weeks.
Today, as a Harry Styles fan of 9 years (which comes as a surprise to most…for some reason?), I’d like to take a look at the new album to see how it holds up.
Note from the editor: Reader discretion is advised. If you are a die hard Harry Styles or pop music fan who doesn’t appreciate strict criticism, this article may not be for you.
Harry Styles photographed by Anthony Pham (left) and Martin Parr (right)Track 1 - Aperture
Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally opens up with Aperture: the leading (and only) single off the album. Aperture, a photography term that refers to the adjustable opening within a camera lens that controls the amount of light reaching its sensor, serves as a great form of symbolism for life and the human experience in the song. Styles uses it to emphasize themes of love, unity, and the importance of positivity through lyrics such as “aperture lets the light in” and “we belong together” - both lines that are heavily repeated throughout the track.
Sonically speaking, the song is underwhelming.Unfortunately, this is a consistent theme throughout a majority of the album. On record, Styles has expressed that a big influence for Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally is LCD Soundsystem. I want to point out that this inspiration is quite prominent although how LCD Soundsystem equates to disco, another element that’s been noted to be a core aspect of the album, I have no idea.
Throughout listening, I asked myself about twenty times where’s the disco? and much to my dismay, it wasn’t just during Aperture.
Track 3 - Ready, Steady, Go!
Further down the line, listeners are greeted with track 3: Ready, Steady, Go! I wanted to dive into this not because it’s a high point of the album but because it’s a low point - a low point that could’ve been one of the greatest if done differently.
The song starts with solid potential composed of a groovy bassline and high vibes but it shoots itself in the foot with unnecessary vocal effects and overproduction. It’s memorable - but for all the wrong reasons.
Track 8 - Coming Up Roses
Through some more songs that are generally predictable and lacking in originality, track 8 greets listeners with a pleasant surprise. Reminiscent of the pieces on Styles’ debut solo album, Harry Styles, Coming Up Roses is a soft and subjectively beautiful number that doesn’t fit with the majority of Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally.
Lyrically, Coming Up Roses focuses on the dynamics of a struggling relationship. Specifically, the fear, the divide, and love that still remains within such a complex thing. This is indicated through lines such as “Now I see your tears on account of my wants, and now it appears that I'm feeling guilty and worried, dear that you think that I might not want you here. Does all of this seem to be bringing us closer or am I back-seating your life, judging while you drive?” and the repeated mantra of “there's only me and you”.
All of this is broken up with instrumentals that actually reflect the song’s core for once: a romantic-sounding orchestra composed of Sam Wilson (marimba, vibraphone), Alessandro Ruisi, Braimah Kanneh-Mason, Charlie Brown, Debbie Widdup, Eloisa-Fleur Thom, Ian Humphries, Jackie Shave, Jenny Sacha, Jeremy Isaac, John Mills, Louisa Fuller, Marianne Haynes, Martyn Jackson, Natalia Bonner, Nicky Sweeney, Richard George, Sarah Daramy-Williams, Thomas Gould (violins), Bruce White, Emma Owens, John Metcalfe, Kate Musker, Nicholas Bootiman, Triona Milne (violas), Chris Worsey, Ian Burdge, Jonny Byers, Katherine Jenkinson (cellos), Laurence Ungless, Roger Linley, Toby Hughes, Chris Hill (double basses), Barnaby Robson (clarinet), Ruth Contractor (English horn), Eliza Marshall (flute), and Owen Slade (tuba).
Track 9 - Pop
Pop follows Coming Up Roses, switching back to that electronic soundscape rather abruptly. This time, however, it’s done extremely well.
Honestly, I believe that Pop should have been the leading single rather than Aperture. It’s everything positive and alluring about Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally, proving to be a good representative of the project as a whole. Though it has some confusing lyrics, the catchiness of it all picks up the slack. Again, there’s not a single thing that suggests any disco influences or energy but I did find that it oddly reminded me of fellow pop star Nick Jonas and his 2015 debut solo album, Nick Jonas X2.
Track 10 - Dance No More
Next, comes Dance No More. A song that’s currently getting praise and acclaim on Tiktok for its iconic line “DJs don’t dance no more”, Dance No More is yet another song that falls just short of the mark. Overproduced, a bit soulless, forgettable. I’ve described plenty of the album as this already but it’s a theme that’s regrettably repetitive.
To be blunt, the song would fit a Depop or Etsy commercial (whether that’s a negative or positive is for you to decide) and I would say it’s similar to the sounds of Daft Punk - though that would be disrespectful to Daft Punk.
Track 11 - Paint By Numbers
Just when I was becoming aggravated and extremely disappointed in the back half of Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally, Paint By Numbers came in to redeem things.
Another outlier that sounds like it came off of Harry Styles (much like Coming Up Roses), Paint By Numbers is extremely heartfelt and bona fide unlike the majority of the album’s other tracks. Styles sings with more pride in this one, using symbolism through a childlike object such as painting by numbers to indicate themes of lost innocence and the bittersweetness of growing up.
It’s not the album’s closing track, that honor goes to Carla’s Song (which is also pretty solid, if you care to know my opinion), but it is a very well rounded number which indicates that all hope is not lost for Mr. Styles.
Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally isn’t Styles’ best work by a long shot. Much of it is excessive, imitative, and lacking a passionate energy that we know he is very capable of. Some may even argue that this album and his lean towards synth pop is for monetary purposes rather than creative, intentional ones though that is for you to decide on your own.
After the release of Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally, fans can find Harry Styles on tour - another controversy in itself due to pricing and the format of the tour itself. Styles has chosen to embark on this tour with an out of the box approach by doing several performances in only a handful of global cities. The cities he plans on playing include Amsterdam (10 nights), London (12 nights), São Paulo (4 nights), Mexico City (6 nights), New York City (30 nights), Melbourne (3 nights), and Sydney (2 nights).
