When One Direction went on indefinite hiatus in 2016, Harry Styles was not the only member to pursue a solo career: he was, however, by far the safest bet of the five, and that bet has been paying dividends ever since. His name now arguably carries more weight than the ‘One Direction’ moniker— the artist’s list of number one hits continues to expand with each record— and so the announcement of his fourth record ‘Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally,’ predictably, made waves worldwide. Now listening to the album, it seems clear that its success is tied more to the Harry Styles brand than it is to its lifeless track list.

Styles’ fourth solo release makes some promises from the off by putting the word ‘disco’ in its title and by proudly displaying a mirrorball on its cover: perhaps the record’s greatest failing, then, it just how understated and tepid it ends up being. Opener ‘Aperture’ felt like an odd choice for a single at the time of its release, as its washed-out synth tones and its afterthought of a chorus didn’t exactly seem primed to dominate the radio waves. It’s only now that ‘Kiss All The Time. Disco Occasionally’ is out that the decision makes some sense— Styles didn’t have many standout cuts to hand, and ‘Aperture’ is indeed an honest indication as to the sound and style of the entire album. Granted, the ex-One Direction member was never known for his overbearing enthusiasm (hell, his most notable hits are the somber piano ballad ‘Sign of the Times’ and the contemplative pop track ‘As It Was’) but even by his standards, the new record seems reluctant to demand your attention.

If disco is meant to be the central theme here, it’s a party that Styles himself wasn’t invited to: truly, the reverb-heavy sound palate and distant songwriting on offer makes it sound like the artist is recording these songs from outside the building. ‘Ready, Steady, Go!’ makes an earnest attempt to inject some life into the record via its marching bass line and and busy synth overtones, but it’s not a direction the track commits to: Styles delivers a vocal performance that feels contractually obligated, fitting the song about as well as its random acoustic guitar break. There’s an outright refusal to crank up the volume that really hampers the glitzy disco/dance-pop aesthetic the album is trying to get a grip on, leaving the final product as something truly quite bizarre— songs as stylistically obvious as ‘Are You Listening Yet?’ and ‘Taste Back’ should be slam dunks for this seasoner performer, but neither track can seem to muster even a single degree of energy from its leading man. This isn’t just an issue of lacklustre vocals: every element that comprises the record seems intentionally watered down.

The record’s highlights, where they appear, are forced to push their way through that syrupy, indistinct presentation: some of the songs that Styles is coming out with aren’t so bad on paper, but it really is in their execution that they’re dragged down. ‘The Waiting Game’ is a confused mix of bleeping synths and oddly harsh guitar and drum tones, but the sweet sentiment at the track’s core manages to shine through nonetheless— as you might expect, this ballad-like cut fits Styles’ sleeping pill-induced vocals quite well. ‘Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally’ does manage to conjure some semblance of style, but it comes much too late into the record. ‘Pop’ is undoubtedly the highlight of the project (so much so that it probably should’ve been the lead single), stuffing its sleek verses and catchy choruses with effects harkening back to a cut as successful as 2019’s ‘Adore You.’ ‘Dance No More,’ by contrast, sounds like nothing that Styles has ever put his pen to: it’s no masterpiece, though it is at least comforting to finally see the record making good on that ‘disco’ promise.

Outside of these brief highlights (and highlight is a relative term in this case), the album is more dull than downright unlistenable— you can practically visualise the board meeting that conceptualised some of these tracks, and no-one present was overly thrilled at the prospect. ‘American Girls’ is where fun goes to die, plodding along with all the enthusiasm of a child in a dentist’s chair: seriously, who is telling Styles that these meat headed choruses and banal arrangements are the way to go? The pizzicato strings that score ‘Coming Up Roses’ clash against the more futuristic sound of the rest of the record, betraying just how loose and disposable that aesthetic actually is. You must admit, it’s quite bold for an artist as corporate as Harry Styles to name a song ‘Paint By Numbers’— where we might’ve found some humour in that irony, we’re instead left with the song’s beige acoustic guitars, and with the overly sentimental closer ‘Carla’s Song.’ It’s all in one ear and straight out the other.

This is Styles’ weakest record yet on principle: we’re just not convinced the artist himself wanted to make it. ‘Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally’ didn’t necessarily need to be some Earth, Wind & Fire knock-off to work, but while Styles doesn’t commit to energetic dance-pop, neither does he deconstruct it either. The singer’s formula is not a complex one, which makes this massive swing-and-a-miss all the more bewildering— his work is, in every sense, middle of the road.