It’s quite healthy for every human to unwind from life responsibilities such as school, work or parenthood. However, if that person was a public figure, always criticized and harassed by paparazzi ever since being a teenager, the pressure of the media and living up to society standards may be unbearable. One may unwind from the stress by traveling in Italy, running marathons, reconnecting with family and discovering their true identity that’s separated from outside opinions or past history.

After ghosting the world and the music industry for nearly four years, Harry Styles has stepped back into the spotlight and delivered a cinematic pop album like never before, “Kiss All the Time, Disco Occasionally.”

Before disappearing, Styles was thriving as a solo artist after taking a supposed hiatus from the boy band, One Direction and won Album of the Year at the Grammy Awards in 2023 for his third album, “Harry’s House.” Once wrapping up the success of the third album, fans were scared that Styles may never resurface as he posted a summary clip of fans on Love On Tour with three scary words, ‘’Goodbye for now,” leaving fans wondering. 

On Dec. 27, Styles awakened the ”Harries” (Styles fans) by dropping an eight-minute video clip on Youtube, titled ‘’Forever, Forever’’. The video clip displays the final show of Love On Tour, showing Harries hours before the show, engaging with their friends, dancing in a crowd, getting ready by fixing their hair, then transitions to Styles playing a 10-minute piano song at the end of the show while capturing fans’ reactions. 

The video ended in a powerful message with fans speculating if this was a sign of Styles coming back, “We Belong Together,” and coincidentally, it was teasing the upcoming single, “Aperture’’ that consists of lyrics with the same message.

“We belong together/It finally appears it’s only love/We belong togethеr.”

“Aperture” sets the scene for the fourth album, giving fans a taste of what to expect and how it varies from his past work. With a static robust beat during the first seconds of the song that draws viewers in, the five-minute song builds up into a play of retro combinations.

Even when Styles started singing in the track, his musical voice is more raw yet placed behind the melody, as if Styles wants his audience to focus on the melody rather than the lyrics. It’s a musical pattern that continues in some of the other tracks yet not all. 

Track eight, “Coming Up Roses” on “KISSCO,” breaks that cycle as it shifts into a slower tempo where Styles’ rich vocals come out clearly. Despite the fact that Styles wrote this next track about how unreliable love can be based on his past relationships, it had the opposite effect on listeners.

“Coming Up Roses” is becoming every couple’s anthem, a love song with a violin solo that captures the meaning of committing one’s life to another even if the commitment isn’t endgame. It’s the type of song that could play at a wedding celebrating newlyweds or in the background of a Rom-Com film during a grand gesture scene.  

Track eleven follows with the theme of a slower tempo yet reflects more on personal loss and experiences. Throughout Styles’s absence from music, his former One Direction member and friend, Liam Payne died almost two years ago on Oct. 16, falling off a hotel balcony. When track eleven was released, “Paint By Numbers,”  fans were theorizing that it was about Payne and his impact on the 1D community. 

“You’re the luckiest, oh, the irony / Holding the weight of the American children whose hearts you break.” /  ‘’It’s a lifetime of picking from one or the other // Kids with water guns, watch them run.”

The line ‘’Kids with water guns’’ refers to One Direction tours where the boy band members brought water guns to aim at one another during performances. These friendly water wars were usually started by Payne who brought the toys on stage. 

The loss of a dear friend wasn’t the only thing that could’ve held him back from returning to the music industry as Styles expresses his fear towards fans who may not like him anymore because of the new direction he’s taken musically and personally in his track, “Season 2 Weight Loss.’’

“Hoping you will love me now/Do you love me now?/Do I let you down?”

Styles reveals his vulnerability of being rejected by his fanbase, hoping he’ll live up to society’s standards while embracing this new era of his life. 

Though he shouldn’t worry too much as his second track, “American Girls’’ topped No, 1 on the UK Singles Chart in March, according to Billboard. 

With a catchy chorus and bridge, it became a fan-favorite and one of the most popular tracks on the album, singing how all of Styles’s friends have fallen for American girls, leaving him feeling lonely and out of place romantically. 

While others may argue that “KISSCO” is nothing like his past albums, there are glimpses and similarities that relate to his past musical taste. As a forever 1D fan, it’s difficult to see and accept change in an artist you’ve loved as a little girl but sometimes transformation is necessary. 

It may have taken four styles for Styles to make a comeback, however the wait was essential as the result was a beautiful coming-of-age album, symbolizing that it’s never too late to find yourself regardless of the  stage of life you may be at. By thoroughly listening to the album, one can recognize the genuine nature of Harry Styles as a person and solo artist.