Harry Styles All The Time. Everything Else Occasionally: A Review of Harry Styles’ New Album

By Kaitie Harper

After four years, legendary singer/songwriter Harry Styles returns to the music scene with his newest release, Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally. Excitement erupted after Styles announced his long awaited fourth studio album on January 15, 2026, releasing the lead single “Aperture” only eight days later. After taking a step back to supposedly reassess his relationship with music stating, “I think it’s a good idea… to kind of stop and check in with yourself: Do I do this because this is what I’ve been doing for a long time, or do I do this because I really love it?” (Styles, Apple Music). Styles makes a comeback to doing what he loves, not only jumping back into music, but reuniting with fans as he brings the album to the stage with the Together, Together tour.

Styles’ break from music only made him realize it was something he missed and something he will always love. With Kiss All The Time, Disco, Occasionally. he created an album that was authentic, which he explained as, “What music do I have to make for me to be onstage feeling like I’m in the middle of the dance floor?” (Styles, Apple Music). The last song made for the album, but the first single, “Aperture” was our first and only sonic sneak peak before the album’s release. “Aperture” highlights honest, reflective topics such as leaving room to let light in, moving forward and acknowledging the unknown. Styles describes it as, “the freest song on the record” (Styles, Apple Music). The single was a successful come back to music, debuting at #1 on UK Official Singles Chart, later reaching #1 on the Hot 100 Chart.

Styles’ fourth studio album and return to music, Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally. is out now and is the perfect album for emotional self-reflection, dancing, and discovery. The album plays around with sounds we haven’t seen Styles experiment with much in his past work, and he really captured the beauty of creative freedom and that music is something he loves doing. All twelve tracks of Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally. balance authentic vulnerability with freedom, creating a contrast between emotional depth and letting loose. He surely created the perfect album to reconnect with yourself and get on the dance floor. Below is a track-by-track guide through Styles’ fourth studio album, Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally.

1. “Aperture”

The lead single opens the album, “Aperture’ felt like a perfect start to me.” (Styles, Apple Music). The song creates a feeling of starting fresh, and new beginnings. The song highlights a lot of self reflection, opening yourself up to new experiences whether that be love, art, or a journey. It is the ability to move forward, letting light in, the literal definition of it’s title, “Aperture” means a lens opening that controls light. “Aperture lets the light in” (“Aperture”, Kiss All The Time, Disco, Occasionally., Styles). The track itself feels very light, and we can see Styles’ sonic experimenting with the synths, percussion, and bass throughout the song which stands out compared to his previous music.

2. “American Girls”

The second track, “American Girls” is a more personal song to Styles, inspired by watching his friends fall in love and get married, “My friends are in love with American girls” (“American Girls”, Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally., Styles). “I think the song to me is actually quite a lonely song in a lot of ways” (Styles, Apple Music). Inspiration also stemmed from the desire to settle down or find somebody to spend your life with and the magic in it. There’s vulnerability intertwined throughout the track as it uncovers the uncertainty and risks that come with settling down and falling in love. “American Girls” could be described as a calmer, melodic track on the album while still having a prominent bass line and synth.

3. “Ready, Steady, Go!”

“Ready, Steady, Go!” is the third track on the album and starts to explore cool sounds we haven’t seen much of in Styles’ past work. Leading the track is a heavy bass line, percussion, and synth. “Ready, Steady, Go!” is an upbeat, funky track incorporating repetitive, catchy choruses, fun vocal effects, and reminiscent verses. The third track is where the dancing and disco part of this album really starts to pick up.

4. “Are You Listening Yet?”

The fourth track on Styles’ albums surely gets listeners listening if they haven’t been. “Are You Listening Yet?” is an energetic, angsty track and the first track written for the album, “The oldest song on the record is “Are You Listening Yet?’” (Styles, Zane Lowe, Apple Music). The track was written while Styles was still on his last tour, Love On Tour, inspired by his mental state which he described as trashy, he wrote it after feeling like he wasn’t making any progress or improvement.

5. “Taste Back”

A personal favourite on the album, the fifth track, “Taste Back” highlights a relationship with another, though the relationship doesn’t appear to be steady, consistent, or committed but rather a lot of back and forth. “Did you get your taste back? Or do you just need a little love?” (“Taste Back”, Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally., Styles) reflects that his partner may only jump into the relationship when it’s convenient for them. The song is about a relationship with a complicated history. Sonically, the song is cohesive, but chases after the mellow and upbeat elements previously in “Aperture” and “American Girls”.

6. “The Waiting Game”

The sixth track stands out sonically, opening with an acoustic guitar line opposed to bass, later picking up with light percussion and synth. “The Waiting Game” is a reflective song, full of honesty and vulnerability as he reflects on old relationship cycles. “You found someone to put your arms around / Playing the waiting game / But it all adds up to nothing” (“The Waiting Game”, Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally., Styles). “The Waiting Game” could very well be about when we spend our time waiting for something “right”, the right person or “thing”.  At the end of the day you gain nothing from it, hence we gain nothing from waiting around or spending time in these cycles.

7. “Season 2 Weight Loss”

“Season 2 Weight Loss” is one of the most interesting songs on the album from the title, and the song’s structure. This song is quite heavy in the synth and percussion, with some minor vocal effects. This song could metaphorically be about Styles’ comeback to music. He described this track as, “It’s like this idea of just coming back as like returning as like this is the same character… That was what it was for me is like I felt like I was coming back as like a stronger version of myself”. (Styles, Apple Music). Inspired by the concept of the second season of a show. This could relate to his career or his personal life. But it is about adaptation, growth, and essentially your next “season”.

8. “Coming Up Roses”

One of the first really emotional tracks on the album, “Coming Up Roses” is a break from all that dancing, featuring a beautiful live orchestra.  It is a vulnerable, unusual love song about the beauty of all sides of it, specifically relationships that don’t last, but the beauty in the impermanence. It is about taking away what you learn from them, something Styles believes people often miss as relationships are often viewed as needing to be long-lasting to be considered successful. “It just negates all of the beauty and so much positivity that can come from a relationship where you learn something about yourself” (Styles, Zane Lowe, Apple Music). Essentially, “Coming Up Roses” is about the concept of finding beauty in things that are short-lasting, that love doesn’t have to be “forever” to be beautiful and mean something.

 

9. “Pop”

The dancing and upbeat vibe of the album picks up again with the following pop track “Pop”. One of the most authentic, pop-sounding songs on the album. Another track about the unpredictability of spontaneous romance. Styles desires to be involved with this person, but recognizes the risks in doing so, “I don’t know how it’ll end, this could go anywhere” (“Pop”, Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally., Styles). “Pop” is a fun track and captures its concept well sonically as well as lyrically.

10. “Dance No More”

The track “Dance No More” really captures the disco part of the album, an upbeat, fun pop song which -contrary to its title- was certainly made for dancing. The song was most likely inspired by Styles’ career, stepping away from the pressure of being in the spotlight, being able to let go naturally without feeling like he’s putting on a show. Styles’ was inspired to write this song after being on a dance floor himself, “I remember going out… and like standing in the middle of the dance floor and feeling so unbelievably free and like safe” (Styles, Apple Music).

11. “Paint By Numbers”

Slowing down once again for another heartfelt moment to pause and take in the emotional and vulnerable moments on the album. What was originally supposed to be the opening track took a fitting place at second last.  “Paint By Numbers” is the most similar to Styles previous work. With a peaceful acoustic lead, the song is a slower track. Many believe it is a tribute to his friend and former member of the iconic boy band, One Direction, Liam Payne. Payne passed away in October of 2024. It could also be about his career, as Styles explained, “I was just married to the idea of coming off the last record and coming back and the first thing I say being, ‘Oh, what a gift it is to be an artist, but it’s nothing to do with me.’ I just loved that,” (Styles, Apple Music).

12. “Carla’s Song”

The closing track “Carla’s Song” wraps the album up perfectly mixing every sonic and thematic element of it into this track. “Carla’s Song” was inspired by an actual friend of Styles after they spoke about and shared music with each other. Styles took inspiration from the musical duo Simon and Garfunkel’s song, “Cathy’s Song” when naming the track “Carla’s Song”. He described sharing music as, “Watching someone discover magic” (Styles, Apple Music). Styles snuck many layers of their conversation into the song, in the first line, “There is a bridge that leads to troubled water” (“Carla’s Song”, Kiss All The Time. Disco Occasionally., Styles) was a reference to Simon and Garfunkel’s track “Bridge Over Troubled Water” which was the song Styles’ played for his friend.