Harry Styles, Harry Styles

Few artists are able to find colossal fame once in their career, but with Harry Styles, Harry Styles proved that the star power he found with One Direction was just the beginning for him. Harry Styles left behind high-powered bops like "What Makes You Beautiful" and "Best Song Ever" and leaned into more of a soft-rock vibe powered by incredibly introspective lyrics, fleshed-out instrumentals, and a certain level of humanity that we were never really able to see from Harry when hidden behind the One Direction hysteria.

Stand-out tracks: "Sign of the Times" "Kiwi"

My favorites: "Two Ghosts" "Ever Since New York"

Opening this album with "Meet Me in the Hallway" is Harry's acoustic, ghostly reminder that this isn't One Direction anymore; it's pining and definitively repetitive "I gotta get better" opens the album with the clear message that this album will be about personal growth. The second track, Harry's solo debut single "Sign of the Times," is in my opinion still one of his best-written songs both lyrically and instrumentally. This song almost feels like an ode to growing older and realizing how far you've already come, and the instrumental push and pull of stripped-back verses and dramatic, building choruses mimics that growing process beautifully.

"Two Ghosts" is another stunning track that's composed to sound like a slow-dance love song, but really tells the story of two people falling apart from one another. I don't pick up on any instrumentation in pared-back "Sweet Creature" besides acoustic guitars and beautifully-layered harmonies, resulting in a very real, sincere love letter. "Only Angel" is maybe the best-produced song on this album, starting with cinematic hidden audio that cleverly transitions into a classic, unflinching, upbeat rock song. The only song that could upstage the previous track is "Kiwi," which is audacious in every way-- from the scream-singing of "'I'm having your baby, it's none of your business'" to the delicious electric guitars-- this one is a heck of an intentional attention grabber.

The closing act of Harry Styles begins with my personal favorite "Ever Since New York." This song is best paired with a self-pondering walk through Central Park in the fall-- it's simplistic but effective in conveying the complexities of feeling disconnected from yourself and the world around you. "From the Dining Table" is a stunning conclusion to this project-- it's another pared-back, acoustic, heartwrenching letter to a lover who's drifting away. Closing the album with "comfortable silence is so overrated/why won't you ever say what you want to say?/even my phone misses your call, by the way" is so painstakingly human and romantic, which perfectly sums up the entire story of Harry Styles.

The entirety of this album is instrumentally dynamic and incredibly vulnerable, solidifying without a doubt that Harry Styles is a rock star in his own right in every sense of the word.

AM I OBSESSED?

RATING:

FULLY OBSESSED

SOUR, Olivia Rodrigo

Olivia Rodrigo hit the music scene hard and fast with 2021's "driver's license," which is one of my favorite pop ballad heartbreak songs maybe ever. The outrageous success of "driver's license" pushed Olivia to put out a full length album four months later, resulting in one of the best and most successful debut albums in recent years. SOUR deserves every bit of the hype and success it's achieved over the last year and a half since it's release; it's incredibly written (especially considering Olivia was 16 when she wrote most of SOUR), it's simultaneously raw and easy to listen to, and it has perfectly soft and powerful vocals that convey every bit of emotion imbedded in each song.

Stand-out tracks: "driver's license" "good 4 u" "traitor"

My favorites: "happier" "1 step forward, 3 steps back" "jealousy, jealousy"

SOUR kicks off strong with the "I want it to be, like, messy" and pounding guitar of "brutal," which laments all the subtle frustrations of life that might make anyone think "god, it's brutal out here." The mood shifts dramatically going into "traitor" and "driver's license," illustrating the most agonizing and reflective parts of teenage heartbreak with lyrics like "I always knew/That you'd talk to her, maybe did even worse/I kept quiet so I could keep you" and "Today I drove through the suburbs/And pictured I was driving home to you." It's hard for me not to have a soft spot for "1 step forward, 3 steps back" with its interpolation of Taylor Swift's "New Year's Day" (and the not-so-subtle 13 reference in the title), but the soft, gentle acoustic nature of this song makes it sound almost like a fond reminiscing of what went wrong in a relationship. One of the highlights of this album is "good 4 u," the unrelenting, Avril Lavigne-esque pop-rock song of utter spite that was literally made to be scream-sang at the top of your lungs; teenage angst looks great when it has lyrics like "Maybe I'm too emotional/Your apathy is like a wound in salt/Maybe I'm too emotional/Or maybe you never cared at all" (and the psycho burning of her bedroom in the music video? Gold.). "happier" is a wonderfully ironic title for what might be the most heart-wrenching song on SOUR. This song is a beautifully pared back to piano, vocals, and light percussion, depicting the result of mulling over a relationship past and all the good it held but being okay with the other person moving on-- just not moving on to someone that makes them forget you. "jealousy, jealousy" is the one track on SOUR I can't believe never became a single-- it's funky pop-rock exposing the grip social media and social pressures have on society and just how obnoxiously frustrating that feeling can be (and the rock version of this song from the "Olivia Rodrigo: driving home 2 u" documentary is even better than the SOUR original). The last true heartbreak of SOUR shines through in "favorite crime," putting on full display conflicting feelings of regret and fond memories. SOUR ends with the stunning "hope ur ok," telling the stories of figures of the past and the struggles they've lived with and simply hoping they're okay despite having fallen out of touch; this track is ghostly and ethereal sounding, with lyricism way beyond what would be expected of a 16-year old.

SOUR is a whirlwind, but in the absolute best way. It's an emotional rollercoaster of joy, pain, clarity, anger, self-loathing, self-love, and love. With a debut like SOUR, Olivia Rodrigo solidified herself as a multi-talented pop star who is here to stay.

AM I OBSESSED?

RATING:

FULLY OBSESSED

All I Ever Wanted, Kelly Clarkson

Kelly Clarkson is arguably one of the strongest powerhouse voices to grace the music world in recent years, and the best of her heavier-rock pop sound shines through on 2009's All I Ever Wanted. She struck gold a few years earlier with 2004's Breakaway and hadn't hit her poppier stride of 2011's Stronger, so it would be easy for All I Ever Wanted to get lost in the shuffle. However, in my eyes, this is Kelly Clarkson at her absolute best. Enough ballads to show off the softness and range of her voice and enough angry pop-rock music to push the power and sass of her voice to its limits.

Stand-out tracks: "My Life Would Suck Without You" "Already Gone" "Impossible"

My favorites: "If I Can't Have You" "All I Ever Wanted" "Long Shot"

The album kicks off strong with "My Life Would Suck Without You," a cheeky power pop song that is enough to catch your attention and keep you listening. The sassiness kicks into even higher gear on "I Do Not Hook Up" - this one is mostly just fun, but it would be super cathartic to scream-sing both it and it's predecessor.

"Cry" is one of the stronger ballads on this album, breaking up the power anthems nicely with soaring, crushing vocals. "All I Ever Wanted" is a darker pop sound, unrelenting in the lyrical and vocal reminder that "all I ever wanted was a simple way to get over you." If you thought "Cry" was going to be the best ballad of this album, "Already Gone" would hit you like a truck; it has that persistent, thrumming instrumental sound that pairs gorgeously with powerful vocals unique to Kelly Clarkson.

My personal favorite ever since I heard All I Ever Wanted back at 11 years old is "If I Can't Have You" - it's poppy, it's bold, it has full-bodied guitars and vocals that just make you perform it into a hairbrush - a 10/10 pop-rock song. "Impossible" toes the line between ballad and almost electronic-sounding, illustrating the co-occurring heartbreak and empowerment that comes with the end of a non-functional relationship.

Is every song on All I Ever Wanted worth listening to? Probably not. But are the songs that are worth listening to pop-rock perfection? Yes, I would say they are.

AM I OBSESSED?

RATING:

OBSESSED WITH SOME TRACKS