“‘Are You Listening Yet?’ Well, of course we are Harry!” - By The Fans Album Review - Kiss All The Time, Disco Occasionally

Words & Review: Amber Williams

Photography credit to retrospective owner.

After 4 years of a Harry Styles drought, his new highly anticipated album was released March 6th at midnight. With the name ‘Kiss All The Time, Disco Occasionally’ many fans had made many different theories on what type of music the album would include.

My favourite theory was ‘Kiss All The Time’ initiated that it would be a rock album because of the band

Kiss, and ‘Disco Occasionally’ would mean the occasional disco song.. In the upcoming weeks before his album, Harry and his team have used many different ways to communicate with us fans.

One of them using a whatsapp chat, which involved fans messaging different things and receiving different ‘clues’.

We also have been using the

https://www.webelongtogether.co website. When the clock is moving you know something

will happen soon!

But didn’t Harry shock us all!

In his recent interview with Zane Lowe, Harry explains how within his time off, he did alot of living. He said yes to everything, and even shocked his

friends within doing so. He explained the nights out he went on, and how some of his new music is inspired by these experiences. Which we can definitely tell in this album.

Now let’s get into the review -

The album opens with Aperture, an upbeat song. This song was released as a single on January 22nd 2026. The song opens with a synth before the beat kicks in, it is in 4/4 timing, which is a dance time signature. As the song progresses it picks up a heavy kick. It is a very stripped back song and despite this it sounds very full, it is living up to the albums name as it is very easy to dance to. The lyrics of the song suggest the song is about opening up and

being vulnerable. ‘Aperture lets the light in’ can be seen as letting light into your life, as the

lyrics state, aperture on the camera determines how much light is let into a picture. In the bridge he says ‘time won’t wait on me’ which could mean he is saying he needs to live his life, as time won’t wait for him to be ready to do things in life.

The next song in the album is American Girls, which starts in a similar way to Aperture, but the piano is not a synth. Once again this song is upbeat, with a very bass heavy musical aspect. In his interview with Zane Lowe, Harry was talking about how this song was actually written as a lonely song, as he was at a point in his life where a few of his close friends were

getting married, and it made him have a big conversation with himself about his life, what he

wants and where he wants to be in 5 years time.

‘My friends are in love with American girls’ really supports this idea.

After American Girls, we are greeted with ‘Ready, Steady, Go!’ which really exceeded many

fans expectations of what this album was going to entail. The vocals, the instrumentals, every aspect of this song shocked me when first listened. But in the best way possible. Much like aperture, this song is written in 4/4 which means it’s so easy to listen to, and of course, to dance to. This song also introduces acoustic guitar to the album, which we had not heard

yet before in the previous two songs. Throughout the chorus there is a descending synth line

which really adds to the song.

‘Are You Listening Yet?’ Well, of course we are Harry! This song is once again something

that completely shocked me, and many other fans when first listening to the album. Circling

back to Harry’s Zane Lowe interview, he says that the point of this song is by the time you are actually listening to him, the song has ended. Throughout the verses his vocals are fast and kind of muffled, which might make it hard to listen/focus on what he is saying unless you are really listening intensely. The heavy marching band like drums, and the intense build up of vocals in the chorus with the repetitive ‘Are You Listening Yet?’ really grabs your attention,

which is exactly the point of the song.

Following this, we have Taste Back, which starts off with heavy synth, which is starting to be

a common aspect of all songs throughout the album. This song made me realise how electronic this album is which is so far from what Harry has done before. The acoustic guitar is used again in this song, adding a stripped back vibe as you progress through the song, before it builds back up. ‘You just need a little love.’ Could imply that all you need to get back

to yourself is just some love.

The Waiting Game is the first song that introduces a slower feel to the album, starting with acoustic guitar, we are met with intimate vocals. Harry feels close, like he is right there when singing. In my opinion, this song is what most reminds me of his older stuff, taking me back to Fine Line. The lyrics of this song suggests that he is waiting for love, and ‘it all adds up to nothing’ which could tie back to the loneliness of American Girls.

Immediate retro synth is what the next song, Season 2 Weight Loss starts with. The vocals at the beginning of the song sound distant and distorted which is a complete contrast to The Waiting Game, and brings us back to being upbeat and wanting to dance our hearts out. The drums in this song are a lot more complicated to what we have heard before within this album. The repetitive lyrics of ‘Do you love me now?’ and ‘Holding on’ really fit in to the

name of this song as Season 2 Weight Loss can refer to when you lose weight when going through something hard, maybe breakup, or a loss. The song has a much slower ending than the rest of the song.

Coming Up Roses starts with strings and piano,

bringing a totally different vibe to what we

know of KISSCO so far. This song is very slow and peaceful, and it is a love song. Harry himself said that it is a love song, and within his time off he has learnt that for something to be good, it doesn’t have to last forever and that is what is beautiful about a relationship. I really feel like this song shows us this within its instrumentalism. For this song, I can totally

imagine him sat at a piano with a microphone, it just being him and his piano. The song does build up throughout the chorus but it still only is vocals, piano and the light synth and strings. It is very atmospheric and you can imagine how hearing this live would give you goosebumps, especially if you are with someone special, or even Harry being that someone

special.

Pop brings us straight back to heavy drums and bass, wanting us to get straight back to

dancing. Many people, including me, have said this is Cinema’s sister, and I couldn’t agree

more. The vocals in this song are more clear and ‘harsh’. Something in this song which is different from the others, is there is electric guitar in the background which is very far away and gives the song a spacey feel. I feel like in this song it is heavily instrumental, almost as if the vocals are a part of the background which I really enjoy. In the chorus of Pop you can also hear a choir helping build the texture of the vocals, which I think is a really nice element.

Not to be biased, but I think this is the best song on the album, and one of the top three

Harry songs! Don’t cancel me, but I am right.

Straight away we are hit with heavy groovybass, you are immediately wanting to get up and GROOOVE. The song being so groovy is

contradicting the title of the song ‘Dance No More’ as all you want to do, is get up and dance. When Harry sings, there is a deeper, more distorted voice, almost talking back to him like they are having a conversation which keeps the song interactive. Throughout the song he also imitates the bass line, making the song more fun than it already is! The bridge of the song is almost like chanting and you can hear people saying ‘Okayyyyy’ in the background, almost encouraging him. Another element I love about this song, and any other song is when songs just end on lyrics, no instruments or anything after it, it just cuts off. Be a good girl, go

get it, FOX!

The most stripped back song on the album, Paint By Numbers. The song is introduced with acoustic guitar and slowly builds up, with elements of acoustic drums and a slow slight baseline. Throughout the track Harry discusses how as you go through life, you are constantly learning. It is reflective of his life and relationships and his

struggles with fame. The lyrics ‘it’s a little complicated when they put an image in your head and now you’re stuck with it. ’ Could suggest that Harry can’t escape his fame and the media don’t view him as an actual person, and the media could change anyone’s image of him at any point. Paint By

Numbers is a kit in which you buy and you have instructions and numbers to follow ‘watching the colours run’ may mean he was living life outside the lines, and allowing himself to be a person and not have to stick to the ‘rules’ being famous can come with.

Bass. Vocals. We are back upbeat with Carla’s Song. This is in my top three songs of the

album, the song starts of slower, and as we travel through the song the song picks up, more

instruments building up. I feel like this song is the perfect song to end this masterpiece of an album on. In the Zane Lowe interview Harry explains that Carla is his friend, and he had introduced her to some music that he thought she would really like. I think this is shown in the lyrics ‘I know what you like’ and ‘its all waiting there for you’ as the music she would like is already out there, and there’s probably so much out there that she hasn’t heard yet, and

she doesn’t know she’d love it. There is an instrumental bridge in this album, the instruments

build up, they get faster, distant vocals getting louder and closer. It is a build up to let everything out for the end of the album. The last chorus of the song, and the album, the drums are faster, louder, building more tension. The vocals at the end start to get scattered, before it ends on ‘I know what you like, you can hear it anytime.

This last line could also refer back to us, and the album, how he knows what we like, and

this album is now ours as much as it is his.

You can listen to Kiss All The Time, Disco Occasionally here.