After debuting with a solo album that showed great promise and staked a claim for him as a serious pop force outside of
One Direction
,
Harry Styles
changed things up on 2019's
Fine Line
. Despite working with some of the same people who helped him tap into classic pop and rock influences on his debut, this time around the range of genres
Styles
dips into has grown to include the kind of warm '70s-inspired funk of
Childish Gambino
's
"Awaken, My Love!"
on the lovely "Watermelon Sugar," the expansive baroque chamber folk of
Bon Iver
on the title track, happily rustic Americana ("Canyon Moon"), and up-tempo
Mark Ronson
-style retro soul ("Treat People with Kindness"). One of the standout tracks is "Sunflower, Vol. 6," a bubbling electro-pop trifle produced by
Greg Kurstin
featuring some nice electric sitar and clavinet work. Throughout the record,
proves again that he's a first-rate singer, able to express melancholy or joy with the same charming ease and disarming power. ~ Tim Sendra