Fine Line is one of the best rock-inspired pop albums. It had a great mix of ‘70s rock and balladry with the additional vocals and instruments. The fact that it had a more vulnerable approach to it made it more relatable. It’s rare, for me at least, to like an album from start to finish, but with Fine Line, I feel like I was able to listen straight through it without having to skip over anything.

Harry Styles has evidently transitioned from being a One Direction star to a true rock star with his songs taking a more emotional theme. The way his songs transitioned between gloomy to being more joyous showed his willingness to be more open with his fans. 

Styles has come a long way from his first solo album: getting his heart broken and expanding his mind but managing to write new, beautiful songs while joining this generation in questioning many social constructs on gender and sexuality to understand who we are. 

Identity, or self-discovery, seems to be at the core of his newest album, most clearly with track six: “Falling”. This contemporary song talks about his struggles of self-identity through his best and worst times of his times, singing “What am I now? Am I someone I don’t want around?” Styles focuses on how hard it is to fully realize when you are starting to become a person you never wanted to be and being able to change and move from it emotionally.

Fine Line is more of an album that’s about romantic ambivalence by having both classic-rock and blues sounds and balladry. With the singles “Adore You”, “Watermelon Sugar”, and “Lights Up”, he gives fans more upbeat tempos with funk-pop grooves, powerful instrumental pieces, and vocal harmonies. Also known for his contemporaries, he delivers the breakup tune “Falling” and “Cherry”, a powerful folk-like song with the album’s most literal and personal lines about his recent breakup.

Unlike his last album, Harry Styles, he managed to make it more colorful with beautiful harmonies and gentle melodies embedded throughout his sophomore album, especially with the more bubbly tune “Treat People With Kindness”, which gives off a different sound from what fans are used to. One of my favorite moments from the album is the outro of “Sunflower, Vol. 6” because of the playfulness of the ad libs.

While he’s hasn’t reached his full potential, he has certainly shown that he’s on his way with Fine Line. Harry Styles has become a more precise songwriter based on this album than on his debut by having a more equal balance of the pop and rock star versions of himself. Even though Harry Styles was good and set the foundation for the debut of his solo career, Fine Line delivers more cohesiveness, being more about vulnerability and being emotional at a young age.