A review of Harry Styles' latest music hints at a departure from his previous disco-inspired work, venturing into minimalist electronica and drawing inspiration from bands like LCD Soundsystem and early Hot Chip, offering a retro sound suited for a modern setting.
LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 11: EDITORIAL USE ONLY: Harry Styles performs on stage during The BRIT Awards 2023 at The O2 Arena on February 11, 2023 in London, England. When you hear the word disco, what comes to mind? I think of Donna Summers' rapturous, futuristic pleasures and Chic's utopian club music.
Disco balls and illuminated dance floors. At its best, the sound of '70s sexual liberation. At its worst, silly, hedonistic corniness., the confusingly titled fourth solo album the artist announced last month, makes it clear that Styles isn't reaching for disco to try on like a costume. This isn't prepackaged by your local Barnes and Noble-turned-Spirit Halloween, or even the funky, '70s pastiche of his last album's songs like"Late Night Talking" or"Cinema." The song is slow-burning, minimalist electronica, as suited for the sunny, pothos-filled interiors of some cool urban coffee shop where people are trying to get work done as it is for an actual discotheque. "Aperture" isn't a disco song, yet it still sounds retro, harkening back to a period of soft, electro-pop music made in the mid-2000s by bands like early Hot Chip or The xx . In a recent interview, Stylesa major inspiration for his new sound was LCD Soundsystem, who he saw perform for the first time recently, longing to mime the feeling of the band's music when he was on stage. And honestly, while it doesn't possess nearly the same swaggering confidence and specificity of LCD Soundsystem's best songs, Ihear it, in Styles' tinny vocal production and the track's skittering, escalating drum machines. It's not hard for me to imagine Styles, whose on-stage persona has been joyous and glam-rock-lite for the last few albums, dressed in jeans and a disheveled suit jacket rousing a Madison Square Garden audience to sing its"we belong together!" chorus together under some enormous, glimmering disco ball.Whether or not that's cool or insanely corny to you, there's been a real, building nostalgia right now for music that borrows from mid-2000s music trends, particularly pop music, among a generation of listeners Styles' age and younger. PinkPantheress' mixtape,, was a testament to her love of British dance music and electro-pop of that era, featuring interpolations and references to mid-2000s hits from groups like Basement Jaxx and the girl group Sugababes. The year before, Charli XCX similarly played with electroclash and 2000s UK rave culture on her trashy, party girl epic. Last year, Lady Gaga sounded as if she had turned back the clock on her own music, releasing songs onthat sounded so similar to what she had done at her peak that it bordered on self-plagiarism. To pivot to that era of electronica makes sense when artists like Dua Lipa and Beyoncé have already made glossy '70s disco and '80s house music Top 40 genres — been there, done that, basically. But I also see this nostalgia happening not just in the style of so much music, but the current fetishization of fairly recent analog music technology, from. That sound Styles and so many recent artists take inspiration from was one before an avalanche of truly industry corrupting phenomena: streaming services, TikTok, a global pandemic and a dismal touring landscape. This is perhaps why LCD Soundsystem cana residency a year in Brooklyn to both old and new audiences: artists, and surely fans, wish they were making and partying to and even justto music in that simpler time. For pop artists, the 2000s is increasingly becoming a vintage music era as codifiable and impersonated as the 1970s. Spirit Halloween costume to come.Hazel Cills is an editor at NPR Music, where she edits breaking music news, reviews, essays and interviews. Before coming to NPR in 2021, Hazel was a culture reporter at Jezebel, where she wrote about music and popular culture. She was also a writer for MTV News and a founding staff writer for the teen publication Rookie magazine.California canceled thousands of trucking licenses. One community bore the brunt of the hitKPBS keeps you informed with local stories you need to know about — with no paywall. Our news is free for everyone because people like you help fund it.
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