I wasn’t sure what to expect going into this album … okay, really, no matter what album I’m going into for the first time, I don’t really know how much or how little I’m going to like it. However, with Harry’s House, I wasn’t sure what to expect.

Now, I prefer not to go into albums ‘trying to like it,’ or ‘trying not to like it.’ I’d rather go in looking for both what I like about it and what I don’t like about it … so, does it really matter what I expected going into this album?

But still, I can’t help but wonder how I’m going to feel about an album, and this is an album where I could have loved it, or I could have found it to be terrible, or somewhere in between … and pretty much no matter how I felt about this album, I wouldn’t be surprised by my opinion.

You see, I really didn’t like his self-titled debut album (to be fair, I haven’t listened to it much). But then came his second album Fine Line, which, in my opinion, is not just so much better than his debut, but is a great album in general!

This year, “As It Was” dropped as the lead single from Harry’s House, and I remember thinking it was terrible at first. The percussion feels like it doesn’t fit with the song, I don’t like that synth-line at the intro that shows up more throughout the song, and there wasn’t much that really stood out to me that I liked … but the song has grown on me since. I still don’t like this song, but I will admit, it’s pretty catchy, and the chorus is decent (or maybe even pretty good) in my opinion.

I really wasn’t sure what to expect from the opener, “Music For a Sushi Restaurant”. It’s an interesting song title, and … well, I don’t like how the song starts, with the ‘ba, ba-ba’ vocals, and the food references, and the instrumental which really doesn’t grab me … but then we get those awesome horns, which don’t make the song really click for me, but I do think they’re a great addition to the track!

“Late Night Talking” is really well produced in my opinion … the instruments sound really good together for the most part, and it’s overall a song that feels really nice to listen to, and it’s hard to explain why. But I’ll also mention that Harry Styles’ vocals on this track are great! And yes, at one point, he does say, ‘I’d follow you to any place’, which typically is something that bugs me, but for whatever reason, this doesn’t feel as creepy as it usually does with lines like those … maybe it’s the word ‘I’d’ to start the sentence, implying that the other person has a choice here, or maybe it’s just the overall tone of the track.

But then there’s my favourite track on the album, “Grapejuice” … where do I begin with this one? It’s just so fun to listen to! I love the pianos on this track, Harry’s vocals are fantastic, and I especially have to point out that vibrating noise (it might be a synth, I’m not sure what it is) that shows up at the start of the song, and also after the first chorus. I absolutely love this track, and it’s one of my favourite Harry Styles songs to date.

After the aforementioned “As It Was” is the song, “Daylight”, which has some really awesome heavier parts musically. Overall, I like the song, and I’m not sure how else to explain why, other than saying I like the production.

“Little Freak” sees Harry look back on a past relationship, and I really like how he says that he’s not worried about where this person is now, or who they’re with, but he admits he’s still thinking about this person. I also really like a lot of the vocal melodies on this track.

“Matilda” is a song that I understand the appeal of, but I’m not a big fan of it myself. I like the lyrics where he sings to somebody who wasn’t treated well by their family, and he tells them it’s okay to leave that life behind and try to find a better future somewhere else, and while I also like the pianos later in the song, for the most part, the instrumental bores me … I think it’s an okay track, and I get why some people might love it, but personally, I’m not a big fan.

I think “Cinema” gets better as it goes on, especially with the outro, but overall, I’m still not really a fan of this song, especially considering how terrible the lyrics are in my opinion … and if you read the lyrics, you’ll probably at least get where I’m coming from.

“Daydreaming” samples “Ain’t We Funkin’ Now” by The Brothers Johnson, and while I like the use of the sample, and Harry Styles’ vocals are really good on this track, I kind of feel like the song doesn’t really go anywhere. There are elements of this track that I like, but it doesn’t fully click for me.

However, I do like “Daydreaming” more than the next track, “Keep Driving”, which seems to be using a car as a metaphor for a relationship … he sings, ‘A small concern with how the engine sounds’, but still asks, ‘Should we just keep driving?’ And it’s an interesting idea for a song, but outside of that, the song doesn’t do much for me, and the bridge feels out-of-place lyrically … maybe I’m missing something with the lyrics on the bridge, and if I am, feel free to let me know. But for me personally, this song just doesn’t work.

“Satellite” starts off with some great crescendos as well as some really nice higher-pitched synths on top, and I love that switch-up near the end where it gets heavier musically. I also like the pitch-shifted vocals toward the end of this track, and while I do feel the drums are too loud on the chorus, I still like the track overall.

The second-to-last track, “Boyfriends”, starts off promising with the backward vocals, but the instrumental feels pretty boring after that, and the vocal melodies don’t really interest me much, either.

And then we get the closer, “Love Of My Life”. I love the low synths on this track, and the pianos at the end are a fantastic way to end the album. But even though I find this track enjoyable while it’s on, it’s not one I really see myself going back to (other than maybe for lists, rankings, etc.).

So, overall, while I think this album is an enjoyable listen while it’s on, I feel like if I’m just in the mood for listening to some good music, I don’t see myself listening to this on my own time … but that’s just how I feel about the album as a whole. I absolutely see myself returning to some of the songs here. There are a couple great songs here in my opinion, and a few others that I like but don’t love. And even my least favourite songs here are still very listenable, and most of the songs at least somewhat work for me. I’m giving this album a 5/10. I’m not going to call it good, but I’m not going to call it bad, either. And keep in mind, in my opinion, a boring album is a bad album, and I don’t think this is boring. It’s an enjoyable listen that doesn’t really stand out as all that special to me outside a handful of songs. But, of course, as always, this is all just my opinion. Let me know in the comments how you felt about this album!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 5/10
Favourite Tracks: Late Night Talking, Grapejuice, Daylight, Little Freak, Satellite
Least Favourite Tracks: As It Was, Keep Driving