Sir Harry ‘styles’ discoable collection of techno transcendence

After three years of lime bike rides, sub 3 hour marathons, and failed parallel park jobs, Harry Styles has finally concluded his tumultuous hiatus with the highly anticipated release of Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally. Styles revealed that his attendance at LCD Soundsystem concerts and techno clubs in Berlin played a heavy influence on the production of the record, which is reflected by the sanguine nature of the majority of the songs. 

Over the span of his three-year hiatus, Styles noted that he took advantage of everyday experiences and opportunities, which involved frequent attendance of the notoriously difficult-to-get-into club, Berghain, located in Berlin, Germany. The production of the album is somewhat experimental for Styles and casually imitates the techno nature of music found in clubs.

Opening the album is “Aperture,” which came out as the lead single a full month and a half prior to the actual release of the record. Reaching nearly 51.3 million global streams on the first week of being released, the single broke Spotify records for the biggest debut for a male artist with 12.5 million first day streams. “Aperture” is an undoubtedly phenomenal start to the record but stylistically uncharacteristic for Styles. With warm techno beats opening the track, a bouncy, stronger electronic thump is quickly added to the mix, resulting in an interesting and unfamiliar sound. The starting vocals feature some voice distortion and EDM influenced styles, which mimic a lot of the sounds Styles likely heard while clubbing in Berlin, Germany. The track features minimal lyrics, but acts as a fitting start to themes of the album with the repeated lyric “We belong together.” Styles’ focus for this album appears to be belonging and togetherness, which corresponds with the name of his residency tour, Together Together. The choice to release “Aperture” as a lead single symbolizes the singer’s readiness to explore new styles of music and expression, a concept certainly revealed throughout the techno sounds and reverb heavy production. The minimal lyrics and maximal sounds offer a fantastic start to an album that represents many new beginnings and growth for Styles.

The track “American Girls” follows the throughline of belonging and togetherness with the opening line singing “right at home.” With pleasant piano interludes between lines and a strong beat, “American Girls” has been the most successful song from the album, racking up nearly 8.3 million streams within the first 24 hours of being released. Despite the preceding track showing the musical growth and difference in stylistic choice of Styles, his vocals are incredibly reminiscent and nostalgic of One Direction’s discography throughout the early 2010s and is remarkably playful compared to many of the other, more solemn themes found throughout the record. Styles notes his “friends are in love with American Girls” several times, which refers to the marriages of his close friends he attended during his hiatus. The track is easily danceable and offers a fun throwback to many songs from nearly a decade ago.

With a strong bass guitar supporting the backing track throughout the introduction of the song, “Ready, Steady, Go!” feels like the true beginning of the record. The entire track feels like speeding down the interstate during the peak of summer with windows down. The repeated lyrics “Did you call it only in my head?” likely symbolize the lack of communication throughout the beginning of an intense relationship. Styles uses a voice modifier to add some rasp, which mimics a lot of electronic music, reportedly an influence on Styles throughout the creation of his record.

In a fast-paced “Are You Listening Yet?” offers an unusually personal look into the pop star’s life as a musician. At over 124 beats per minute, the track frequently alludes to the struggles Styles faced prior to going on hiatus singing “God knows your life is on the brink” and “ignoring all of your friends at the end of their rope.” In an interview with Zane Lowe for Apple Music, Styles discussed several of the reasons why he went on a three year hiatus from performing. Joining the music industry and rising to fame with his boy band One Direction at the ripe age of 16, Styles notes struggling to find his true identity, both musically and personally. The track “Are You Listening Yet?” references the mental health and frustrations of Styles while on tour and shows how Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally presented an opportunity to express new styles and feelings and experiment with his music. The frantic, fast-paced nature of the song, especially throughout the introduction, mimics the struggles and somewhat jolting nature of growing up as a musician under the public eye. The chorus seemingly gives a glimpse into the internal monologue of Styles as he sings “Can you hear the voice? / The one inside your head / Oh, are you listening yet?” Despite the somewhat dismal message of the song, Styles doesn’t fail to keep the track upbeat and very danceable. The duality of the upbeat sound and vulnerable lyrics found within the song allows it to be incredibly memorable.

The intro of “Taste Back” offers electronic tunes that would seemingly be at the start of a coming-of-age movie. Throughout the entirety of the song, the backing track stays loud, while Styles’ vocals are placed in the background, which mimics a lot of electronic music and electro-pop bands like LCD Soundsystem, which Styles cited as influences for his recent record. The somewhat experimental track conceals some of Styles’ vocal range and abilities, but introduces many aspects of club music in Berlin, Germany, where Styles recorded his album and lived long-term. The track explores a relationship that needs a little rekindling or “a little love.” The repetition of “you just need a little love” gives the track a needed warmth and joy, but is ultimately still disco-able.

In one of the record’s shorter tracks, Styles juxtaposes the techno, upbeat backing track with slower, softer vocals in “The Waiting Game.” This song beautifully encapsulates the difficulties of trying to move on after the ending of a relationship. The fun, fast-paced accompaniment symbolizes the desire for a quick rebound, while the contrasting, slow lyrics resemble the true difficulties found in trying to move forward. Despite having a somewhat melancholic meaning, the track stays true to the latter half of the record’s name and is still incredibly danceable and fun.

Subsequent to the release of the tracklist, “Season 2 Weight Loss” received substantial kickback due to the seemingly arbitrary name. However, in his interview with Lowe, Styles used Netflix shows as a metonymy for his song, arguing “when there’s a Netflix show, and then it blows up, and everybody comes back becoming an improved version of themselves.” The track itself reads like a yearning to be understood and pleading to explore the creation of new music. This aligns with a lot of Styles’ recent press tour, where he celebrated the new techno and disco influences that were found in his recent record, despite some being somewhat uncharacteristic in comparison to the rest of his discography. This track is equally danceable and has aspects of popular club music found in Germany.

Track 8, “Coming Up Roses,” transitions the record into a softer, more reflective ballad and is one of the few tunes that wouldn’t be considered danceable. The introduction of the song is somewhat similar to Styles’ “Cherry” found in Fine Line (2019), and as the verse grows, the soft string instrumentals intensify. Initially, the track seems like a love song with soft, warm vocals and lyrics like “everything seems to be coming up roses,” which may be reflective of several of the alleged flings Styles’ experienced throughout his break. However, as the song progresses lyrics like “does that mean we’re not aligned” and “you think I might not want you here” suggest that the meaning may be more profound. With a beautiful string orchestra accompanying the track, Styles’ notes that many good things must come to an end, and that their conclusion doesn’t take away from their beauty. Although Styles references a romantic relationship, the song is delightfully ambiguous and can be applied to the culmination of any relationship or event. Despite being somewhat of an outlier in the great scheme of the record, the beauty of the strings and Styles’ vocals offer a pleasantly warm listening experience and is a major highlight of the album. “Coming Up Roses” is notably the lone track where the sole lyricist is Styles himself. The authentic and genuine lyrics and the legato instrumentals only further symbolize the beauty of a relationship, even if cut short.

A stark contrast to the preceding track, “Pop” offers an upbeat and buoyant track. The expeditious thematic transition from “Coming Up Roses” to “Pop” is reminiscent of the transition from “Matilda” to “Cinema” in Styles’ album Harry’s House (2022). The track serves as an innuendo but is nonetheless an upbeat and danceable track with a heavy techno influenced backing track. 

Arguably the most upbeat track on the album, “Dance No More” invokes the antithesis of actions to its title. This track offers the most disco and techno sounds with fun call and response elements. With lyrics like “DJs don’t dance no more they said,” the track argues that music and its production needs more joy and energy. This track requires absolutely no notes and perfectly fits the latter record title, Disco, Occasionally. The whole song offers an upbeat encouragement to listeners to “get your feet wet” and “dance with all our friends” reflecting Styles’ frustrations with the consumption of music. With fun phrases like “teach ‘em all to respect their mother” and “be a good girl, go get it, Fox,” the track is incredibly disco-able and cheerful, pushing it to be another major highlight to an already phenomenal record.

The jolting transition from “Dance No More” to “Paint By Numbers” results in a little bit of whiplash for listeners. With a significantly slower tempo and extended vocals, this track offers an emotional transition as listeners enter the final stretch of the record. Despite being the shortest song on the album, Styles effectively narrates the difficulties of fame and growing up, but the beauty that community provides in times of hardship. Many have speculated that the track may be about either Styles’ late former bandmate, Liam Payne, or his past relationships. In his interview with Zane Lowe, Styles noted that he originally considered opening the album with a ballad to narrate “What a gift it is to be noticed, but it’s nothing to do with me.” Styles notes the beauty of the community that his fans have created, which beautifully begins the conclusion of the album.

After nearly 38 minutes of pure bliss, the final track “Carla’s Song” begins. With the song opening with a quick, heartbeat-like backing track, Style’s vocals quickly enter, which calm the song down. In his interview with Zane Lowe, Styles said that he was inspired by his eponymous friend’s, Carla, reaction after he showed her a song. The song is a true celebration of friendship and requires a little bit of gamboling and dancing in order to fully appreciate the tune. The repeated “I know what you like / I know what you really like” is a joyous statement of knowing one another. The upbeat and lighthearted song is the perfect conclusion to a showstopping album about belonging and togetherness. 

With many unexpected elements scattered throughout the album, the record features sounds and songs that are undoubtedly worth the wait. Styles truly exemplifies his range of musical talents throughout the album, and the organic timing of its release is felt by the beautifully authentic songs. Ultimately, the album has no weak link and is filled with tracks regarding the beauty and struggles of being alive and the importance of finding community.

Grade: A+ 

by Zosia Bowlus-Jasinski

Published March 20, 2026

Oshkosh West Index Volume 122 Issue VI