{"id":1355,"date":"2026-03-13T09:20:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T09:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/2026\/03\/13\/2026-03-13-disco-occasionally\/"},"modified":"2026-10-06T23:08:03","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T23:08:03","slug":"2026-03-13-disco-occasionally","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/2026\/03\/13\/2026-03-13-disco-occasionally\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018… Disco,\u00a0Occasionally\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Andrew Hutchinson<\/a> · Staff Writer<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
\u2014 INSTAGRAM<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Harry is back! With the release of his fourth studio album, \u201cKiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally,\u201d Harry Styles builds off the European techno sound and production of the lead single, \u201cAperture,\u201d and shows a softer, more adult version of the former One Direction member. Styles travelled to Germany and danced in techno clubs, but along the way found maturity. The album is a party, but rather than blacking out at a bar, it\u2019s dancing until dawn with all your best friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAperture\u201d functions as a true lead single, opening the album with a unique, but muted, energy. Next is \u201cAmerican Girls\u201d a fun but serious track about friends dating and marrying girls abroad. Although some \u201cHarry\u2019s House\u201d tracks, like \u201cMatilda\u201d or \u201cGrapejuice,\u201d focused on the struggles of growth and maturity, \u201cKiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally\u201d highlights the loneliness of change and maturity, and the sound of the album reflects upon it. Exuberance remains nevertheless, and \u201cPop\u201d channels Styles\u2019s joyful, sunny mood. Better yet, Styles is four for four on albums without explicit lyrics! His lyrics are bizarre, and occasionally contain innuendo, but he remains proof a good discography doesn\u2019t need to be tainted by vulgarity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Styles and his producer deserve a great deal of credit for the cohesion of the album. After \u201cAperture\u201d was released, it was uncertain whether the rest of the album would follow the slightly avant-garde model of the non-traditional lead single, or would be more like his brilliant third album, \u201cHarry\u2019s House\u201d, which featured soft rock, disco-lite synth and whatever category of music with which \u201cMusic for a Sushi Restaurant\u201d is best described (Ramen EDM?). Those questions were put to rest the moment the album released.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are few albums that try to bring a completely new sound to an artist or genre, and many that do fail so spectacularly that they gain notoriety, like some unnamed \u201ccountry albums.\u201d One or two songs with instrumentation commonly associated with a genre does not ensure a true appreciation or mastery of it. \u201cKiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally\u201d is not that. Styles\u2019s time in Europe, dancing at the Berghain nightclub in Berlin, living in Italy and even marathon training, gives him a personal connection with the techno scene. The differences from one song to the other could be greater, as several of the songs lack a distinct hook or chorus, but this is a whole album of a new sound for the U.S. pop music scene. If this brings albums like \u201cLUX\u201d by Rosalia into greater popularity, Styles will have done a great service to American pop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, having listened through the entire album, this album is not just about a new sound. Rather, Styles is contemplating life, love and growing into adulthood. The change in relationships in transitioning to college last fall brings about the same kind of discomfort Styles describes in his 30s. While I, like many fans, may miss the craziness of \u201cHarry Styles\u201d and songs about fish (\u201cAdore You\u201d), which we enjoyed in now nostalgic summers, as we mature, our tastes refine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This album is all about that refinement. Fun changes, hope may dim, we lose our ignorance. Like Styles, we see friends move away, we see the world harden and this album will resonate with many people. It\u2019s musically creative in a way that reaches back to the days of the \u201990s and sounds from across the pond, far better than many other similar albums, like Bruno Mars. It allows us to reach back to times many in Gen Z never experienced, with the honesty that makes it relatable. It may not reach the level of success the more stereotypical pop albums guarantee, but if more of the world marches to the beat of \u201cKiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally,\u201d we may find a brief window into the happiness that exists through the struggles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Harry is back! With the release of his fourth studio album, \u201cKiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally,\u201d Harry Styles builds off the European techno sound and production of the lead single, \u201cAperture,\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":738,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[221],"tags":[84,21,50],"class_list":["post-1355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music","tag-andrew-hutchinson","tag-entertainment","tag-issue-2026-03-13"],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2026-03-13-16-disco-occasionally-1.jpg",857,792,false],"thumbnail":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2026-03-13-16-disco-occasionally-1.jpg",150,139,false],"medium":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2026-03-13-16-disco-occasionally-1.jpg",300,277,false],"medium_large":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2026-03-13-16-disco-occasionally-1.jpg",768,710,false],"large":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2026-03-13-16-disco-occasionally-1.jpg",857,792,false],"1536x1536":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2026-03-13-16-disco-occasionally-1.jpg",857,792,false],"2048x2048":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2026-03-13-16-disco-occasionally-1.jpg",857,792,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Ian Schartner","author_link":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/author\/schartnerij23\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Harry is back! With the release of his fourth studio album, \u201cKiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally,\u201d Harry Styles builds off the European techno sound and production of the lead single, \u201cAperture,\u201d","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1355"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1355\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1719,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1355\/revisions\/1719"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/738"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}