Hannah Montgomery
Editor-in-Chief
It has been a couple months since I ended a relationship and I had no idea how badly I needed to hear this album. Music has always been a great love of mine, but for two months I didn’t want to sing, let alone listen to anyone else do so. My Spotify was full of heartbreak playlists that I would play for a minute before breaking down and turning it off.
When the time came to assign pieces for the January issue of The Mast I reluctantly offered to review Harry Styles’ newest album, completely unaware of how his story was so similar to my own.
Fine Line was released Dec. 13, 2019. The album debuted at Number 1 on the Billboard 200, the second time Styles has achieved the coveted position on the chart. Fine Line sold 478 thousand album units in the United States during the first week of its release.
The album broke the record as the largest sales debut by a male English artist in the US. Fine Line was streamed over 100 million times within the first week alone, making it the biggest week for a pop album released by a male artist in the last four years.
Harry Styles has transitioned from boy to man during his time as a solo artist, and this last
album was another step toward him growing into his 20s. Styles shares that his journey leading up to the release of the album was laden with heartbreak, transcendental meditation, and shrooms, each shaping his songwriting and musical vision.
Fine Line is “all about having sex and feeling sad,” the 25-year-old artist said in an interview with Rolling Stone. “I feel like I’m really enjoying making music and experimenting.”
Each track on the album carries its own message and meaning. From a non-musically trained background I listened for storytelling and the use of language to base this review.
The first song, Golden, describes the early stage of a relationship when everything feels light and warm. But, there is also a reminder that hearts can be broken and trust must be earned in the beginning. Styles weaves each track into the next well and the progression of both tempo and romance crescendos during the chorus of Adore You, the third track.
The tone shifts as Lights Up addresses change. One might interpret the song as a confusing break-up and the feeling of betrayal by a significant other. But it may also be the realization that personal growth is achieved by gaining confidence and stepping into the light as one finds oneself.
The next movement of the album reminisces on past love and expresses the feeling of hopelessness. Falling dissects the feeling of despising oneself for poor choices and mistakes and flows into To Be So Lonely which describes the stage of grief when depression and anger have ebbed and reflection begins.
Fine Line ends with a feeling of hope and progress towards healing. Memories of the highs
in the relationship flash in Sunflower and Canyon Moon, times when all felt easy and right. The album finishes with Fine Line, its namesake, which ties up the lessons learned from love and heartbreak. The last track addresses that there is a fine line of what is and isn’t acceptable in a relationship and that a balance is created in love and loss.
I would have procrastinated listening to this album had it not been for The Mast and I am proud to say that my appreciation for Harry Styles has increased. Fine Line is beautiful, sad, and hopeful, a combination that I have not seen many other albums about a love achieve.
