Legions of Styles devotees have come out online to laud the 13-track album — which spans funk, folk and pop with charming aplomb, and includes contributions from John Mayer, Devonté Hynes (aka Blood Orange), Tobias Jesso Jr. (whose credits include Adele, SIA, FKA Twigs and Diplo) and prolific session bassist, Pino Palladino.
“I mean Harry’s House… I’m scalped,” tweeted one fan.
“Harry’s House will be on repeat today. sorry not sorry.” said another.
But one song, in particular, titled Matilda, has been really stirring up the base. The song, with lyrics that go ‘Matilda, You Talk Of The Pain Like / It’s All Alright / But I Know That You Feel Like / A Piece Of You Is Dead Inside,’ is partly based on Roald Dahl’s Matilda, but grown-up.
Speaking about the track in an interview with Zane Lowe for Apple Music, the singer explained that the song is also about a real person: “I had an experience with someone wherein getting to know them better, they revealed some stuff about them which was like, that’s not normal.”
“For a lot of people, what you know in your experience is everything that you know, so it’s easy to mistake it as being, I guess in this specific case, regular behaviour,” he added, but did not reveal the person in question.
“Matilda is for the girls who were never comfortable in their own home growing up. who learned the different sound of foot steps. who are trying so hard to make it on their own,” tweeted one fan.
“Matilda feels like a warm hug but at the same time like a knife in my heart, twisted. damn harry,” said another.
This is Styles’ third studio album. His first self-titled record was released in 2017, around a year after One Direction split up. His second album Fine Line was released in 2019. It was nominated for both a BRIT Award and Grammy Award.
Longtime collaborators Kid Harpoon, Tyler Johnson, and Mitch Rowland are contributors on Harry’s House, which also includes the tracks Daydreaming, which samples the 1978 Brothers Johnson track Ain’t We Funkin’ Now, and the smash single As It Was, which shot straight to number following its April release.
Its music video, which also premiered on April 1, has already garnered 129 million views and is currently the number six global top music video.
Styles headlined Coachella in April, and will kick off his new album tour with a concert in New York today. He’ll play Wembley Stadium in London on June 18 and 19.