Nathaniel Clark 

Staff Writer

nuc5002@psu.edu 

On March 31st, English singer Harry Styles released the lead single “As It Was” for his upcoming album, Harry’s House through Columbia Records. This project will be Harry’s first following his massively-popular sophomore album Fine Line from December 2019 and its respective tour in 2021. On the production angle, “As It Was” was produced by previous Styles’ collaborators Thomas Hull (AKA Kid Harpoon), and Tyler Johnson. 

While the single does come in at a relatively short 2:47, the track acts as an excellent introduction to the sound of Harry’s House. Moving away from the pop-rock found on Fine Line, “As It Was” can be found in the realm of indie and synth-pop. This is a definite and noticeable shift, but I feel it’s one that Harry and his collaborators embrace wholeheartedly. With its guitar-driven nature and poppy synths, the song does a perfect job of masking the darker nature of the lyrics with an 80s-esque sheen. 

Speaking of lyrics, “As It Was” opens with Styles’ goddaughter, Ruby, saying, “Come on Harry, we wanna say goodnight to you.” While this may be a nice inclusion, the phrase fits thematically with the feelings of loneliness and a longing for the past (It may also allude to Harry keeping people out of his titular “house”). Another way that this single connects to longing for the past is through lyrical callbacks to previous songs, bringing up the motifs of those tracks into the mix. For instance, the moment in the second verse where they mention “What kind of pills are you on” acts as a reference to “Meet Me In The Hallway” and its mentions of addiction recovery. 

In essence, “As It Was” is a perfect reintroduction of Harry Styles to the listening audience. With its bright and poppy sound and deceptively dark lyricism, the single leaves an excellent impression on the listener. With Harry’s House coming soon and the European leg of the previously-mentioned tour starting in June, it’s a great time to be a Harry Styles fan. Harry’s House releases on May 20th.