Harry Styles’s New Album Might Surprise You

Erica Gonzales, Meg DonohueFri, March 6, 2026 at 5:00 AM UTC

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Harry Styles’s New Album Will Surprise You Stella Blackmon

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Harry Styles is full of surprises, whether it’s releasing “Sign of the Times” as his first post-One Direction single, becoming an actor, or secretly running a marathon in under three hours. His fourth studio album, Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally., is just the latest unexpected twist up his sleeve. It’s a mix of dance-inducing, synth-y yet subdued tracks that are sure to transport you to the club—either physically or spiritually. The project is an understandable pivot for the singer, who, after winning Album of the Year at the Grammys in 2023, stepped out of the spotlight, escaped to Italy, and embarked on side quests in Berlin (specifically the dance mecca Berghain). After Styles’s time away, this new record sounds romantic and free; perhaps this lyric from the track “Are You Listening Yet?” sums it up best: “If you must join a movement, make sure there’s dancing.” As our resident Harry Styles fan at ELLE puts it, “That feels so apropos of the cult of Harry.”

Below, two ELLE editors—including one day-one Directioner—discuss the long-awaited album.

First, Meet the Superfan

Meg Donohue, associate fashion commerce editor: My backstory with Harry goes to the beginning of time. I was a fan before “What Makes You Beautiful” was even available on iTunes in the U.S. I didn’t watch One Direction on The X Factor, but I must have discovered them right after that because the video diaries—fans will know what I’m talking about—were up on YouTube, and that’s where I found them and got addicted. I was at the first tour when they came to America; they were opening for Big Time Rush. So, I am an OG One Direction fan. I had a One Direction Tumblr that was miniature-famous. I know all the lore.

ELLE Editors’ Initial Reactions to the Album

MD: “Aperture” was a great single, a good representation of the album. I think if you like “Aperture,” you’ll probably like the album overall. But if “Aperture” is not your thing, I don’t think you’ll love the album. I thought it was vibe-y; I thought it was different for him and yet a natural progression. It feels very indicative of the era he’s in. You and I were joking earlier about it being literally Disco, Occasionally. We all were initially like, “Oh, it must be a disco album!”

Erica Gonzales, deputy editor, digital content: Yeah, my bad for jumping to conclusions.

MD: Occasionally, it’s a disco album. But I liked that, and I liked that there were still a couple of ballads and a couple of tracks that felt really personal. I think he’s good at that.

EG: I feel like when you hear “disco-inspired,” my mind jumps back to the ’70s and Donna Summer or what Dua Lipa did on Future Nostalgia, which was paying homage to retro disco. But Harry’s take on disco feels very current—like house, dance, and electronic music. There’s this steady thumping drum and bass line throughout. I agree with you that “Aperture” was a really good single and opening track. It sets the stage for how the album is going to sound.

MD: I don’t know if I would call it a dance album, but at the same time, I think it’s made to be pumped out of speakers.

EG: It creates an atmosphere, in a way, rather than bop after bop.

MD: This album feels like it was more about storytelling through the music than through his vocals. Like the production behind the music was the emphasis and less of it being about his singing. The two ballads are where his voice really shined through.

“Waiting Game”

MD: “Waiting Game” is the one that he was being especially snarky on. I was like, “Is he talking to himself in this one?” He calls someone a clown. And I just have a suspicion that that might’ve been a letter to himself. I could be completely wrong, but he is self-deprecating in past albums, too, so I wouldn’t be surprised if this was an inner monologue. I don’t think that this album skimps on being intimate, even if it’s less lyric-driven than his previous albums.

“Pop”

EG: “Pop” really stuck in my head. I can see that maybe being a single.

MD: I agree. “Pop” was so funky. I wonder if it’s a subtle allusion to “Cinema” and the line “You pop when we get intimate.” But also, is it about him being a “King of Pop”?

EG: That’s what I was thinking, too. He’s talking about trying new things, and maybe he’s like, “If I am supposed to be a pop star, what does that mean?”

MD: I think it was him working through [the idea of], “I am pop. Whatever I do is pop.”

EG: Exactly. “I don’t have to stick to one thing.” He says, “Try two flavors,” whatever that means…

MD: Open to interpretation.

EG: Or maybe it’s, “I can do disco, occasionally, and some choir ballads.”

Gareth Cattermole - Getty Images“Paint by Numbers”

EG: On the note of him defying expectations, “Paint by Numbers” was also interesting. He says he was spending his whole life learning to paint by numbers and watching the colors run. And there’s the line, “They put an image in your head and you’re stuck with it.” I thought it was about him being a public figure knowing that people have an image of him, and whether he wants to veer away from it or not.

MD: One of the lyrics from that song is, “I’m not even 33,” which is a crazy reminder, because think about all he’s done.

EG: And how young he was when all of this started.

“Season 2 Weight Loss”

MD: As soon as they released the track list, I was like, “What the hell is this going to be about?” But I thought that song was quite poignant. Surprisingly so, given the name. There’s a line that says, “Let the light come in once in a while,” and I wonder if that’s a callback to “Aperture.”

EG: I’m thinking of when a show comes out and the person becomes famous and then when they come back for season 2, sometimes they’re “yassified.” I don’t know if that has anything to do with this song, but…

“Coming Up Roses”

MD: I loved the line, “Just for tonight, let’s go hangover chasing.”

“Coming Up Roses” marked, for me, a shift in the album; it was so different. It was very different from the first half of the album. It has an orchestra on it as well.

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EG: I was trying to count in the credits how many musicians there were, and there were over 20, I’m pretty sure. It’s the least electronic track.

MD: I wrote down the line, “Am I backseating your life judging while you drive?” I thought that one cut deep.

Stella Blackmon“American Girls”

MD: I mean, come on. This one’s for us. This is the track that feels, to me, the most—out of his catalog—that sounds like it could be One Direction. All of his songs, especially on Fine Line, Harry’s House, not so much. HS1 was very distinct, moving away from One Direction, doing his own thing. “Sign of the Times” as his first single was like, “Oh my God, what is this guy going to do? I know him from One Direction and now this is so different.”

But “American Girls” is the first time that I was listening to a Harry Styles song and I was like, “This could be a One Direction song.” And that’s not a positive or a negative; it’s just an observation.

“Dance No More”

EG: “Dance No More” is definitely a Disco, Occasionally moment.

MD: It opened with that really cool bass line.

EG: It felt kind of like Nile Rodgers. It also reminded me of “Groove Is in the Heart” by Deee-Lite. There was a call-and-response moment toward the end that would be so fun live at his residencies.

MD: It’s the most disco track so far. And there were the lyrics, “We want to dance with all our friends,” and “There’s no difference between the tears and the sweat.”

EG: Crying in the club!

MD: Which is very fitting. But also, he says, “Respect your mother.” Is that the new “Treat people with kindness?”

“Carla’s Song”

EG: Progression-wise, by the time we got to “Carla’s Song,” which was the last song, it sounded a little bit more like “Aperture” to me, where it was subdued but still electronic. He went full circle. If you’re going to listen to it on repeat, it’s going to transition well.

MD: I do feel like this album has good flow to it, with the exception of those two ballads, which do serve as almost intermissions, but in a good way.

Johnny DufortStyles’s Overall Trajectory

EG: Does this album make sense to you as a next step in Harry’s career?

MD: I think it totally does. This is what we know about him: He’s in his hedonistic era of dancing, parties, and kissing.

EG: There’s a sense of freedom and releasing your inhibitions.

MD: With HS1, he was flexing muscles that he couldn’t flex in One Direction, and making a statement for himself of, “I’m going to be an artist in my own right.” And Fine Line, which is a magnum opus, was really informed by big feelings and a crazy heartbreak, at least in my opinion. I think Harry’s House was him finding his footing again, and this album feels like him having fun.

EG: He’s like, “I proved to you what I can do, and now I’m just having fun with it.”

MD: Exactly. I don’t feel like he’s trying to prove anything.

All of Harry’s albums have a really good shelf life. They age well. I remember the first time I heard “Sign of the Times,” I was like, “I don’t know about this.” Now I could cry listening to that song. It’s always magical when musicians can create something that you’ve heard a thousand times, then one time you hear it years later and it all of a sudden hits you in a different way.

All of his albums have been like that, where I go back to them time and time again, and they grow on me over time. I think this one’s going to be the same thing.

EG: I’m interested to see how the momentum [of this album] develops with summer on the horizon. Especially since we didn’t really have an overarching song of the summer last year, and you never know what’s going to pop up randomly in 2026.

MD: I think this tour is going to be really high-energy. He’s always jumping around and dancing and doing all kinds of crazy stuff. When I was listening to this album and how it isn’t as vocal-driven, I wondered if that’s going to be strategic for him performing. It’ll be a little easier to jump around if he doesn’t have this crazy range.

EG: Like at the BRIT Awards.

MD: I think his shows have always been a party, but this tour is going to really be a party, even for him—because he’s just going to be able to let loose.

This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.

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