Harry Style’s new album, Harry’s House, drops tomorrow and is getting solid reviews, at least from outlets I’ve read (Rolling Stone, The Guardian, The Times, NME, Entertainment Weekly). This is his third solo album and he’s talked about moving past the pressure points of expectation from his first and second albums and I’m looking forward to hearing what that sounds like, the effect of “I don’t have to prove myself anymore” on his music. 

 

Harry’s been on a promotional push for Harry’s House the last few days in New York. Yesterday it was Howard Stern and everyone should know by now that when you agree to be on Howard Stern, he’ll ask you anything he wants to ask – and more often than not it’ll get personal. So Olivia Wilde and Taylor Swift came up. I haven’t listened to the interview myself so I can’t comment on his reactions, his tone of voice, and how he responded in context to some of Howard’s nosy questions (and to be clear, I LIKE that Howard is nosy), but from the coverage I’ve read, including Billboard’s recap of Harry’s responses, he carefully avoided saying anything too specific and did not give away too many gossipy soundbites.

When Howard pressed him on his relationship with Olivia, Harry just talked about the experience of being directed by her in the upcoming Don’t Worry Darling. When Howard asked if the lyrics on the song “Cinema”…

“If you’re getting yourself wet for me I guess you’re all mine”

…were about Olivia, he just confirmed that most of his songs start out as “mine” and that “it’s important to write from whatever you’re going through at the time” which probably isn’t all that satisfying for the gossips but titillating enough to imagine what he’s doing to make a woman wet. I mean, I think by this point, not to be too obvious, but after “Watermelon Sugar”, I feel like we all want to believe Harry Styles knows what he’s doing. 

 

As for Taylor, there’s a song on Harry’s House called “Daylight” and Taylor Swift has a song called “Daylight” but when Howard brought that up, Harry simply denied that there’s any connection. So all in all, nothing in the interview fueled any drama or intrigue and that’s not surprising since by now, Harry’s been doing this for so long, he understands what to give and how much to give while engaging in the fame game. He is, after all, a professional celebrity. 

This morning it was a The Today Show, an outdoor performance in the rain for screaming fans who’d been waiting for hours. Here’s what he wore for soundcheck: 

And this was the fit for the performance and the interview: 

 

It’s the perfect choice for the weather, like to lift the mood, and the perfect choice for his own mood which would be…

The Today Show is taking full advantage of this, by the way, by blowing up their own Twitter feed with GIFs and other Harry content – which I get it, it’s smart, you might as well take full advantage of his appearance. And he gives good GIF!

I can’t say up until recently that I’ve had Harry high on my list of concert wishes but I think I might be moving him way up because all I ever see from him when he’s on stage is big energy and big love. And he’s been at this for a while – starting from the One Direction days, over a decade now of mega fame and crushing scrutiny, and not only does he seem to have come through it without resentment but the more famous he gets, the more… free he seems?! He never looks tight or tense to me. He’s always present, unrestrained, and the most vital thing, that one quality I keep highlighting for what we look for in an entertainer: he’s having a really good time. 

 

Which, for me, is what makes him so attractive. Harry Styles is f-cking hot. He’s only getting hotter and hotter. So hot in his interview with Zane Lowe that was released earlier this week – the outfit, the hair, his voice…

…although here in England they’re obsessing about his accent and how it’s changed and isn’t this just what happens when someone travels the world and spends time in different parts of the world? When I read about things like this I get so accent paranoid that I double-down harder on my Canadian accent (I can hear myself the last few days in London, going hard on the “AH-BOOT” when I talk) in reaction to not wanting to become an eye-roll when I speak but then I’m like… well, sh-t, if you’re TRYING to sound MORE Canadian, is that contrived in and of itself?

Sorry, that’s a weird tangent that has nothing to do with Harry – the point is he’s hot, whatever his accent is, and I’ll spend part of the weekend with his album and let me know your thoughts on it too. 

Also attached - Olivia Wilde out today in London.