Fine Line Album Review
Golden
Great, great choice of opener. I agree with Harry, it def sounds like a song I want to drive down the highway to :) I love the layered vocals and the summery background vocals. Love the vocals panning back and forth in your ears during the bridge. Love the slide guitar that comes towards the end, and that his voice goes up an octave. This song leaves me feeling excited and ready for an adventure.
Watermelon Sugar
This song is and always will be a BOP. I love the horns in this song, they add a lot to the song. This is a really funky song, I esp love his vocals on the “I just wanna taste it, I just wanna taste it, watermelon sugar high” parts. Camille said in an interview once that this was her favorite book so this is a subtle little hint from Harry. I do wish he’d changed up the chorus a little, but other than that, all good.
Adore You
I love love love the thick bass that runs like a river through this song. So sexy. This song is also such a bop. This song has some really tasteful guitar licks and an amazing chorus - super melodic and those harmonies after “like it’s the only thing I’ll ever do’ are so beautiful. I don’t see myself getting tired of this song.
Lights Up
I still love this. I love that the opening acoustic guitar gets louder and louder as it kicks off. The drums at 0:18 (and again at 1:44) are two of the sexiest moments on the record, no doubt. I love the dreamy feel this song has, the groove sits so well in the pocket. Same with his lighter, more uplifting voice. Love the scream before the “step into the light” lyric, and the choir effect is super cool. This song is like laying in the dark with colorful floaty lights everywhere.
Cherry
I love this song very much a lot. I love the quiet, folky plucked opening guitar, and it’s so cute that the song starts with Camille’s “coucou”. This song is the perfect example of the pettiness Harry has referred to. The lyrics “don’t you call him what you used to call me” and “does he take you walking around his parent’s gallery” are such petty lyrics, haha. Love that throughout the song you hear the “coucou” parts here and there in the background - nice little detail. The crescendo towards the end is beautiful, even though I do wish the drums were a little louder by the end, but wow. And I actually really love the voicemail. It makes the song feel so much more personal. We’re hearing something that initially wasn’t for us, but he chose to share it in this song and it fits so well.
Falling
LISTEN. This is currently my favorite song on the album. This was the first song I went back to after I’d finished the record for the first time. This tune sounds like a breaking heart.. and THAT you can’t teach. Can we talk about the riff he adds on the third “falling” in the choruses? STUNNING. I love how emotionally invested he is in each song on this record, it’s so cleverly done across the whole board, his voice connects the lyrics to the sentiment and tone perfectly. *chef’s kiss*
“What if I’m someone you won’t talk about?” “what if I’m someone I don’t want around?” - those lyrics go straight to my heart, every single time. There’s no irrelevant shit with this song. And the last “I’m falling” he sings where his voice breaks because of the passion he’s singing it with, made me tear up when I first heard it. Truly a ‘wow’ moment on this record. I LOVE it. *grabs another tissue*
To Be So Lonely
Love the dulcimer in this song, and the double cello bass. I love the more arrogant and flippant tone this song has. It’s a little more tongue-in-cheek, after some self-reflection and realization perhaps…? And it’s so petty that he sings “don’t call me baby again” after learning that that’s what Camille used to call him in Cherry, haha. At 1:12 he lights up a match and then blows it out. He’s so good at adding these little things that make the whole sonic landscape really interesting. Nice nice nice.
She
Again, I love the thick and prominent bass you hear in this. Def hear his Pink Floyd admiration here. Again he changes up his vocals and we hear his voice in an octave we haven’t heard much of - really cool. This song is over 6 minutes long, and I like that he’s challenging our attention span with these longer songs. You get so used to the standard format of 3 and a half minute song, but by adding that guitar solo I’m reminded of the rock songs of the 60′s and 70′s where they made these longer songs all the time. I think I’ll appreciate this even more live than I do on the record actually.
Sunflower, Vol 6
Very fresh-sounding, interesting and trippy. I feel like I’m on a tropical island with this one. I love how much he experiments with new sounds - fun that they brought in a sitar here. And again he’s using his vocals in a really cool way, adding layers, echo, and reverb. Love the “I couldn’t want you anymore, kiss in the kitchen like it’s a dancefloor” lyric. And the added lil thing of taking deep breaths before starting several of the lyrics. No one is making songs like this now?? Saw someone describe this as “This song is the cute part of a romance movie where they’re just vibing and doing cute shit together” and I agree.
Canyon Moon
I feel like harvesting some corn, haha. I’m getting summery vibes during the cold Norwegian winter and thank you for that, Harry. The campfire handclaps are really fun and jovial. This song feels very Simon & Garfunkel-ish imo and again, there’s so much is going on sonically. The whistling in the background is cute. This song makes me feel like we’re a young couple in the 70’s traveling around the world.
Treat People With Kindness
This song is giving me major Queen/musical but also commercial vibes?? I do appreciate the sentiment behind this song - it brings a dose of positivity and it’s warm-hearted. We do need this message in 2019 for sure. The “here we go”, “one more time”, “just a little more kindness” and “all together now” are really fucking cute but this is my least favorite on the album. Sorry.
Fine Line
What a fucking way to close off the album, wow. Very Bon Iver-y with the layered vocals and the reverb. This feels very emotional, very raw, very intimate.
I like that throughout the album we heard a few different variations of ‘sun’ references when it comes to Camille. Addressing her as “golden”, “sunflower”, and here again with “you sunshine you temptress”. I love how he holds some of the notes and leaves them lingering a little, and it’s really beautiful to hear how easily he goes up into a falsetto from his head voice. After feeling like I’m standing in the rain, the skies finally open towards the end and we’re greeted with sunshine. The trumpets and drums that kick in adds to a more optimistic and joyous ending.
And ending the song and the album with “we’ll be alright” - what a beautiful message to leave us with <3 This song is gorgeous and it’s gonna be incredible live.
Final thoughts
All in all, I’m super happy and impressed with his sophomore album. My faves are Falling, Adore You, Lights Up, Golden, Cherry, and Fine Line. I love that he’s paving his own way and not following any trends. He’s also experimenting so much with new sounds on this album and using a lot of different vocal techniques. which keeps things really interesting for us listeners. The one “complaint” I have, is that he tends to get a bit repetitive with his lyrics, esp on his choruses. But ugh, I really love this album, it’ll be on heavy rotation forever and I can’t believe he’s making music this good at 25 tbh. He’s amazing and I’m reallyyy proud. 🥺
