by Anton Dedvukaj
The month of May was a very interesting month for the music scene, as it was a packed month for album releases. Unlike the more rap-heavy first half, May’s latter half was more pop-focused, which made this month all the more interesting.
The albums I am reviewing are Harry Styles’ Harry’s House and Tate McRae’s i used to think i could fly. The other three albums I listened to in May were covered in the early May album reviews segment.
Harry Styles – Harry’s House
The post-One Direction era has certainly been quite something. I started following the charts right after all five former members had tried to launch their solo careers, and it’s no surprise to me that Harry Styles has been the most successful. He’s shown through his hit singles that he’s a fairly versatile performer, cutting rock songs like “Sign of the Times”, to more upbeat, poppier songs like “Watermelon Sugar”, to alternative-leaning tracks like “Golden”.
This album clearly had a lot of hype behind it, and I did like its lead single, “As It Was”, so I was curious to see if this was going to be any good. As such, I took a 42-minute visit to Harry’s House, and I definitely enjoyed it.
There’s a lot I really like about this album in terms of its sound and structure. A lot of these songs find themselves based on some guitar groove that drives the songs. Most of this album wouldn’t sound out of place on my local alternative radio station, and the songs in question would probably be among the better songs in their rotation at that. This sort of alternative pop-rock sound is very pleasant to listen to, with a couple of welcome solos and big blowout outros.
The sense of grandeur that some of these songs have is absolutely a welcome feature, especially with how some of them will build up into something greater. Two of my favorite songs here, “Daydreaming” and “Satellite”, are perfect examples of this. They both start out more relaxed and quiet, before the instrumentals and Styles’ vocals ramp up and make the songs so much more epic. These songs are two that I’ll definitely be returning to in the future.
I also liked how much fun Styles can have with these songs. Tracks like “Late Night Talking” and “Cinema” are really nice and fun lovestruck pop songs, with the sorts of strong hooks and catchy melodies I love from pop music. The hooks across the album in general tend to stick in the head quite easily, which adds to this album’s replayability for me.
The album also has a serious side, too, with tracks like “Matilda” and “Boyfriends”. The former tells a story about someone who was mistreated by their family and is now ready to leave that abuse behind, while the latter speaks on how many men will mistreat their partners and the problems that this creates.
Styles himself also delivers vocally, staying in his lower register on the more relaxed tracks here, such as “Cinema”, and also soaring with his powerful vocals on the aforementioned blowout outros. He’s come a long way as a vocalist as time has gone on, and it certainly shows here.
This was definitely a really good album. There aren’t any tracks that feel like album filler, and it works really well as a summer-ready album with a lot of upbeat pop and alternative tracks that work well together. I’m definitely going to keep a good few tracks from this album in my rotation, and I’d recommend checking it out.
Best songs: “Late Night Talking”, “Daydreaming”, “Cinema”
Tate McRae – i used to think i could fly
Another development in music that I’ve had my eye on is the rise of Gen-Z artists in the mainstream. Over the past few years, we’ve seen a few such artists like Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo, and The Kid LAROI release their debut projects and achieve consistent chart success as a result. Among this group is Tate McRae, who released her debut album this month.
I’ll admit to not being much of a fan of her early work, but most of the singles she has released from this album have been solid. In particular, “she’s all i wanna be” stuck out to me as a really good song, as it’s a really fun mix of pop punk and synth-pop that I’ve found myself returning to a number of times. With this solid run of singles, I was curious to see how her debut album would wind up. After listening to it, I can say that I thought it was decent.
One thing I’ll give this album a bit of credit for is that I don’t think it ran together, and each song did sound distinct from the last. There actually was a fair amount of differentiation in this album’s sound, with a mix of pop-trap songs, some other more traditional pop cuts, and a good amount of ballads.
I’ve always loved some simple, fun pop music, and there were a few songs here I had some fun listening to. In addition to the aforementioned “she’s all i wanna be”, I also really liked “you’re so cool”, which had this sort of early 2010s radio-pop sound that I liked – even if the cursing on the chorus is a bit awkward – as well “what’s your problem?” and “what would you do?”, which also had really catchy hooks and melodies.
I definitely see how someone can criticize the writing on songs like these as “teenage” or “bratty”, but I’d argue that this actually makes the album feel more authentic. McRae herself is a teenager, and I can reasonably believe that these songs were written in a way that resembles how a teenager might react in the situations she describes, which I do respect.
Then, there are the ballads, which I was less enthusiastic about, to say the least. I do see the appeal of songs like “boy x” and “feel like sh*t”, but this sort of depressing pop sound has never been my thing, and I generally found these songs to be less enjoyable because of that. It also doesn’t help that I can’t relate to them myself. I’m not in her target audience, and I imagine that relatability is a major factor in what makes these songs work for that audience, so I can’t say I was much of a fan of these cuts.
There were two ballads here that I actually did like, being “chaotic” and “go away”. The former is the only song here that doesn’t center around a breakup, instead being about the stresses of growing up. As such, I found it to be pretty relatable and it stuck with me a lot more. The latter song worked for me because I liked the more muted production and how it worked with McRae’s vocals. It reminded me of something that Olivia Rodrigo would record, and that’s a compliment.
Finally, there’s McRae herself. I think she’s a solid singer and writer, and her more juvenile tone of voice lends itself well to songs like “she’s all i wanna be” and “you’re so cool”, which are blatantly teenage in their writing style. It doesn’t always work, as she does slur her words a bit more than I’d like, and her upper register is kind of hit-or-miss on the ballads here, but she can usually carry these songs well on her own.
Overall, while I’m not going to call this album fantastic or anything, I did find a good amount to like here. The hooks are generally solid, and there are a few songs on this album that I see myself returning to. If you’re in her target audience, you’ll probably find something to like here as well. Otherwise, if you’re curious, try sampling some of the highlights or the singles, and then decide where to go from there.
Best songs: “she’s all i wanna be”, “you’re so cool”, “go away”
The latter half of May brought some more pop music into 2022’s music scene after a very rap-heavy last month-and-a-half. I’m not quite sure what the summer will hold for music, but I am very much looking forward to it.
