Harry Styles: Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally — nice, good occasionally

Everything about the launch of Harry Styles’s fourth solo album underlines that he is a very big deal. Record stores in the UK are opening at midnight or first thing on release day, he is curator of this year’s Meltdown festival, and last week’s Brit awards included not only a choreographed performance of the lead single, Aperture, but a two-and-a-half-minute comedy skit that acted as an advert for the new record.

The accompanying tour largely favours long residencies in single venues, with North America covered by 30 dates at Madison Square Garden, an approach that assumes fans will travel wherever he wants them to. The album is largely devoid of unequivocal pop bangers such as As It Was or Watermelon Sugar.

Aperture sets a hazy, post-club mood and many tracks feel made in the small hours: American Girls pairs mid-tempo house beats with plangent piano chords, while Paint By Numbers leans into acoustic singer-songwriter territory. Are You Listening Yet?

United Kingdom, North America

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