Global Superstar Harry Styles has released his 4th album, Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally. It came out in early March. The 12-song album has received extremely mixed reviews online. Personally, I see it as a no-skip album. I love every song for a different reason, and as a Harry fan since the One Direction-frat-boy-Harry days, I can safely say this is my favorite album of his. However, the (in my opinion, miserable) reviewers at Pitchfork and Rolling Stones have some not-so-kind things to say.
A common theme among reviewers is that the album lacks depth. Part of Styles’s marketing for this album revolved around the idea of him finding himself and making music for no one other than himself. Yet, Pitchfork author Shaad D’Souza points out that Styles says “You” 326 times and “I” only 127 times. D’Souza points out, “how can someone be finding oneself when they are so concerned with the elusive ‘you?’ But all those ‘you’s make it a little easier for him to avoid the central question of his career: who are you, really, beyond the big pants and the anti-bullying slogans [Treat people with kindness] and the even bigger pants?” (D’Souza 2026). Styles claims that he drew inspiration from LCD sound system, marathon training, clubbing in Berlin and his Italian friends. D’Souza does not see these things as “finding yourself” activities. To him, the album falls short of a come-to-Jesus, spiritual epiphany.
I gripe with the idea that finding yourself must be this one, defining moment. I don’t think finding yourself is something you have to do alone. Styles doesn’t either. There is beauty in friendship, relationships, and community. Zane Lowe says in their 2026 interview, “I love that idea to break that spell of what is to be extraordinary to other people…and trying to create something that’s beautifully ordinary” (Lowe 2026). After his seemingly never-ending Love on Tour wrapped up, Styles took a break from the spotlight. He spent time in a small Italian town, as well as in Rome. Later in the interview, Styles expresses his deep appreciation for the time he spent in Italy and its people. “For me, it was the appreciation that was in the way of life…how special they treat food, how special they treat their relationships with each other” (Styles 2026). I think D’Souza drastically misjudged this album. To me, this album is joy. It’s joy in growing up, taking accountability, new connections, new places, and relationships that come and go. Its joy and its contentment in that joy. In the song “Taste Back”, Styles sings to the elusive you, asking them if they got their taste back. Styles believes what this person needs is “a little love.” Who’s to say Styles is not singing to himself here? The “you” could be him; an idea D’Souza did not consider.
In “Season Two Weight Loss,” Styles sings to fans, critics, and anyone in between. He describes himself as running in circles to make sure he pleases everyone, whether that be people he knows or those who (me included) have a parasocial relationship with him. “Holding/Holding out/Hoping you will love me now/Holding/Holding out/Hoping you will love me now” (Styles 2026). In this song, Styles reconciles himself and begins to understand that so much of what he does is to win the affection of others.