When most people name their favorite song or album, it’s one that they’ve at least…you know…heard. However, fans of Harry Styles are already dubbing his solo single ‘Sign of the Times’ their favorite song and calling his album the best, without having heard a single note. The truth is, Harry’s vocal and songwriting ability have been making an impact on the music industry for years, and now, it’s going to happen in a new and exciting way for all of us.
‘Sign of the Times’ comes out on Friday, April 7th, and just hours ahead of its release, a snippet of an interview with Radio 1 was posted online with Harry talking about his album and a bit about the songwriting process.
‘I just wanted to not be somewhere that I’d get distracted. It was 360 of writing, you’d go home for dinner, write at the house then go back to the studio. I liked being away from everything and doing it like that. I was with the guys who I was writing it with and we just wanted to make what we wanted to listen to and that has been the most fun part for me about making the whole album.‘
In addition to fans saying it’s their favorite album, Harry says that it’s his too (and not in the cocky way some may expect a musician to say that). Harry has been working hard on this album for a long time, not letting information get leaked and not doing interviews or dropping hints about the project. It’s been – no pun intended – radio silent. Hearing him proud of his hard work makes us even more excited to hear the album in its entirety.
‘In the least weird way possible, it’s my favorite album to listen to at the moment.‘
Harry also spoke about putting the album on hold when he was cast in Dunkirk, which actually helped him be able to produce music that he loved.
‘For a while before, all I thought about it was stressing about what it was going to be. It gave me a chance to completely step away from it for a bit and have a real break. By the end of the movie, because we were swimming so much, I just wanted to write songs.‘
In terms of the number of songs that were written, Harry said about 70 were written. However, not all of them were full songs, some were ideas that they messed with before moving on with other full tunes.
‘I think we wrote about 70 songs. We did 50 songs and ideas in Jamaica and that’s including like little ideas … full songs, I say there are 30 songs probably.‘
While Harry’s album is, for the first time, just his – he did share some of the songs he wrote with people who weren’t part of the initial album writing process. One of those people was Ed Sheeran.
‘I played him a few songs after the album was finished. He didn’t say that he didn’t like any, but he did like one song that isn’t on the album.‘
Harry’s album is going to make music history, and there are less than two full days left until we hear the first song from it. When you look at Harry from the beginning of his journey until now, you can see him grow musically and lyrically, but also in his heart and his spirit. He went from someone who was a bit shy and scared of what people thought of him to a young man who has the world at his feet and people wrapped around his finger, but not in the way most would expect.
Harry is kind and genuine. He’s talented and he’s hard-working, and more than that, he’s got a heart of gold. He deserves this moment and all of the moments that will come after it.