Arguably the breakout star of the boy band One Direction, Harry Styles has redefined himself as a standout solo act, meshing his boyish charm with a mature, classic, sound, reminiscent of the British acts that preceded him (most notably Styles’s idol, David Bowie).
Where his debut album was playing it safe, his new album “Fine Line” really gets out of his comfort zone, prompting listeners to aggressively dissect the lyrical content. In an interview with The Guardian, Styles was asked if he was bisexual or identified with the LGBTQ community (the album’s cover art, a photograph of Styles, contains a plethora of colors that echo the the transgender and bisexual pride flags).
Styles’s answer was not really an answer. “It’s not a case of: I’m not telling you cos I don’t want to tell you,” he replied, further explaining that he’s not in a right place to properly discuss that publicly.
The look, design, overall aesthetic of his music and album artwork, he explained, are simply determined by what looks “cool.” “Am I sprinkling in nuggets of sexual ambiguity to try and be more interesting? No,” he said. “I want things to look a certain way…because I think it looks cool.”
Bisexual or not, explanation or not, we don’t need all the answers to delight in the sound featured on “Fine Line.”
By Michael Jacobo
Photo Credit: Dia Dipasupil/Film Magic
