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Although Harry Styles is frequently still associated with the now-defunct boyband One Direction, he’s made a name for himself in mainstream music through his rock-influenced solo albums that deviate from the unfortunate bubblegum pop sound to which the group clung to during their 6-year stint.  

Fine Line, released in December of 2019, has achieved great success as it was the first number one album on Billboard’s Top 200 Albums in 2020. As of writing this blog on January 15, it remains number 3 on the chart.  

But what can a listener expect from Fine Line? 

Firstly, the album opens with “Golden”, a summery song that layers Styles’ upper and lower registers to form the melody and the backing vocals, which both mesh flawlessly with the psychedelic guitar licks and simple drums that support them.  

These poppy and whimsical guitar riffs and layered vocals continue with “Watermelon Sugar” and “Adore You”, two of the singles from the record.  

The mood shifts with “Lights Up”, which is a mellow break up song. While the instrumentals illicit a sense of calmness and contentment, the lyrics are painful as he sings “All the lights couldn’t put out the dark / running through my heart”. This melancholy and nostalgic theme continues with “Cherry” and “Falling” with stripped down backgrounds that consist of simple of acoustic guitars and pianos.  

Although it gets sad in the middle, Styles’ voice really shines here as asks “What am I now?” and belts out how he’s “falling again”. The mood picks up a little with “To be So Lonely”, but things get interesting with “She”. The bass is bumping for lack of a better word, plus the distorted and passionate guitar solo at the end of the song is one of the best moments on the album in my opinion. It’s a dark and heavy contrast to the joyous beginning, showing a clear progression of the story being told.  

Then, there’s yet again another mood change as “Sunflower, Vol. 6”, “Canyon Moon”, and “Treat People with Kindness” bring the tempo back up. “Canyon Moon” has an indie feel to it, and I can almost imagine myself taking a roadtrip along the countryside where all you can see is cows, farms, and the blue sky for miles. It also feels like something George Ezra would release! 

Finally, the album concludes with the title track “Fine Line”, which builds from a Styles’ almost whispering to a triumphant end filled with power chords on the guitar and crashing symbols on the drums as he reiterates “we’ll be a fine line”.  

Overall, Fine Line is kind of an emotional rollercoaster, making it interesting and unpredictable in places. My one criticism would be how repetitive and generic some of the lyrics are, but I’m also of the opinion that lyrics don’t have to be a priority depending on the intention of the album. For me, it serves as my studying music because it puts me in a good mood then illicit tranquility and focus, so I’m not paying attention to the words most of the time anyway.  

Rating: 8/10