Album Review: 'Harry Styles' by Harry Styles

Graduating from boyband teen idol to “serious” pop artist is a notoriously difficult trick to pull off. The cliché that “many have tried but few have succeeded” generally holds true – and for every Robbie Williams, Justin Timberlake and George Michael, there are many more formerly-adored teen pop sensations cruelly cast aside. Though his debut solo album should probably have been called Styles, given the myriad of rock, indie and folk elements, the former One Direction star has made a decent stab of growing up gracefully in public. There is nothing earth-shatteringly original, but it is a convincing effort nonetheless.

The radio friendly first single – arena rock ballad ‘Sign Of The Times’ – was a wise choice, while the quirky indie-pop number ‘Carolina’ channels Wilco to impressive effect. Indeed, Styles’ magpie approach to rock works surprisingly well, as he doffs the cap to Beck on ‘Two Ghosts’, before evoking the Stones and U2 on ‘Ever Since New York’. For good measure, there’s Def Leppard-style glam metal on ‘Kiwi’ and a Beatles-like vibe to ‘Sweet Creature’.

One does wonder how much – or how little – control Styles had in the making of this. Perhaps not a whole lot – but even if the singer has yet to forge a truly distinctive musical identity, this is still a decent start to his solo career.

Listen: ‘Carolina’

Out now/ Colm O'Hare

07/10