Harry Styles 3rd Album
Share this story
Two weeks ago, Harry Styles announced the May 20 release of his third studio album, Harry’s Home. The album announcement comes after the conclusion of his US tour, Love On Tour. Love On Tour continues in the UK. A week later, he announced the April 1st release of the album’s first single, titled As It Was. The song broke the US and a worldwide record for the number of streams in 24 hours on Spotify in 2022.
The song sets the album to be a stark contrast to his previous album, Fine Line, which was released in 2020. Compared to the bright blue and pinks of the cover of Fine Line, Harry’s Home is more laid-back in its neutral colors and low saturation, giving the album a calm, understated feel. As It Was sets itself apart from the singles from Fine Line, too, as the song is soft, quiet, and deeply emotional, compared to the fun and happy Watermelon Sugar from Fine Line.
As It Was creates a deep emotional response in the listener, more so than most of the Styles’ songs in the past. The lyrics are sad but also contemplative and hopeful, in contrast to the beat of the song, which is fast and upbeat, creating a happy atmosphere about a sad experience. The song starts with the voice of Styles’ goddaughter saying “Come on, Harry, we wanna say goodnight to you,” playing into the title theme of home and family.
Fans have already begun to make deep connections with the song, seeing it as a song about family, family separation, and individual growth. Many fans believe that these themes will continue to be seen throughout the album, which will continue to separate Harry’s Home from Styles’ two previous albums, which focused more on love and romance.
The song does share similarities to Styles’ previous music as well. The song highlights loneliness through lines like “Harry, you’re no good alone,” and “nobody’s coming to help.” Fans have pointed out that in his previous albums, Styles’ has referenced being alone, such as in Golden, a song on Fine Line, where he repeatedly sang “I don’t wanna be alone.”
As It Was has created high hopes and anticipation for the album from fans.