Harry's House

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Lore & Background

The album title came from Haruomi Hosono's 1970s album 'Hosono's House', which Styles heard during a chunk of time in Japan. The central concept of 'house' is a metaphor for the inside of his mind rather than a geographical location. Styles explained: 'It was much more of an internal thing… imagine, it's a day in my house, what do I go through? A day in my mind, what do I go through?' He was also inspired by a road trip through Italy in his deceased stepfather's car, listening to old jazz CDs. The first song written for the album sessions was 'Late Night Talking', written the day Styles, the band and producers arrived at Shangri-La studios in Malibu. 'Music For A Sushi Restaurant' was written early and originally considered as the album title, after Styles remarked in a sushi restaurant that one of his songs was 'strange music for a sushi restaurant'. 'Boyfriends' was initially written during the final week of Fine Line recording, with Ben Harper playing guitar on the track. 'Little Freak' was written in 2019 during Styles' trip to Tokyo, produced and mixed in a different version for Fine Line but didn't feel right. 'Matilda' is titled after the lead character from Roald Dahl's book, inspired by a relationship Styles had with someone going through difficulty. 'Daylight' was written as an all-nighter project. 'Cinema' was started while Styles was on a treadmill. John Mayer plays lead guitar on 'Cinema' and 'Daydreaming'. 'Love of My Life' is Styles' way of showing love to England and home, written at Sony Music Entertainment CEO Rob Stringer's house.

In Their Own Story

The album was announced on 23 March 2022 with a 40-second trailer and the release date of 20 May 2022. In the trailer, Styles steps on the podium of a theatre and grins while a 'house façade' rises near him and reversed synthesisers play—later revealed to be a backwards version of the closing track 'Love of My Life'. Joni Mitchell, whose 1975 album featured a track called 'Harry's House / Centerpiece', tweeted that she 'love[d] the title'. Styles set up an interactive website and a new Twitter account, publishing messages including 'you are home' and 'in this world, it's just us, you know it's not the same as it was'. On 15 April 2022, during his Coachella headlining performance, Styles performed 'As It Was' live for the first time, plus two unreleased songs: 'Boyfriends' and 'Late Night Talking'. One month before release, the album was reportedly leaked on Twitter in its entirety; Sony publicly condemned the leak. On 26 May 2022, on The Late Late Show with James Corden, Styles and Corden filmed a music video for 'Daylight' directed by Corden, visiting an apartment belonging to fans. The album was supported by singles 'As It Was' (released 1 April 2022), 'Late Night Talking' (released to US pop radio 21 June 2022), 'Music for a Sushi Restaurant' (released to adult contemporary radio 3 October 2022), and 'Satellite' (released 3 May 2023). 'As It Was' debuted atop the UK and US charts, becoming Styles' second solo number-one in both countries. Three other songs were concurrently in the top 10 of the US Billboard Hot 100: 'Late Night Talking', 'Music for a Sushi Restaurant' and 'Matilda', making Styles the first British solo artist to achieve this feat.

Reader's Guide

Harry's House was met with critical acclaim. At Metacritic, it received an average score of 83 based on 26 reviews, indicating 'universal acclaim'—Styles' highest rated album. Veteran critic Robert Christgau applauded the album's musical fluidity. The album won Album of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical at the 65th Grammy Awards. Rolling Stone included it in their 2023 revision of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Musically, the album takes influence from Japan's 1970s-80s city pop genre and primarily features synth-pop, new wave, pop rock and pop-funk styles, with elements of R&B. Key collaborators include producers Kid Harpoon and Tyler Johnson, with John Mayer on lead guitar for 'Cinema' and 'Daydreaming', and Ben Harper on guitar for 'Boyfriends'. The album debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart with 113,000 album-equivalent units, becoming the fastest-selling and best-selling album of 2022 in the country. It also debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 with 521,500 album-equivalent units, including 330,000 album sales.

Did You Know?

• The album title was inspired by Haruomi Hosono's 1970s album 'Hosono's House', which Styles heard during a chunk of time in Japan.
• Styles wrote 'Love of My Life' at Sony Music Entertainment CEO Rob Stringer's house, and the track features Stringer's ringtone in the background.
• John Mayer played lead guitar on 'Cinema' and 'Daydreaming' after working in the studio across the corridor from Styles.
• The album's closing track 'Love of My Life' was played backwards in the announcement trailer.
• Styles is the first British solo artist to have four songs concurrently in the top 10 of the US Billboard Hot 100.