"The record is a charmingly strange step-up from Styles’ past catalog, unlike anything he’s dabbled in before: finding solace in experimental electronica, unconventional lyrical structures, and the flittering cerebral crisis of imposter syndrome. Yet, it still somehow feels quintessentially Harry Styles just with a heavy, consistent bass thrumming throughout.
With tones reminiscent of avant-garde ’80s New Wave artists like Duran Duran or Adam and the Ants merged with hungry, soulful ’90s house music, Styles takes the listener through a non-linear sonic experience, escaping the musical bubble the industry, the adoring public, and even he himself had unknowingly built around him all these years. Underneath is a twelve-song current of restless inner dialogue flickering between the off-balanced journey of observing others and being the one observed. What emerges on Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally is an experience of sound less occupied with radio success and more occupied with purely making tunes Styles enjoys—and having a helluva interesting time doing it.
Collectively, Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally is an album that succeeds in its creative leap. Does it have its faults? Of course. Styles’ voice gets lost within the shuffle of some of the record’s production, there are moments where he struggles to have identity outside of the thrumming bass, and the troubled positioning of the tracklist makes the full listening experience feel disjointed. Yet it’s the most mature progression he could’ve made as an artist, taking as much of an experimental risk as a pop star can afford nowadays and mostly sticking the landing while doing it.
It’s a record that one will immediately love or immediately hate on first listen, but it’s a clear reinvention of what music and persona Styles wants to put forward after a period of ego death and existentialism—a modern, underground shift that simply documents his life as a normal person and promises nothing else. And while everyone will bicker over lyrics or discuss its highs and lows, Harry Styles, for once, won’t care because he’s finally cut the puppet strings from his back—free from expectation, free from surveillance. Instead, we’re hearing the first unapologetically authentic project from Harry Styles in a long time. And whether you like it or not, that’s ultimately Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally’s true, unwavering power."
