It has felt like the height of One Direction infection all over again for the last few weeks, courtesy of the uptick in releases coming from former members of the British boy band, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik, and Niall Horan. 

After 2020, I didn’t think I’d live to see the day that each member  would be active again, and I had begun to roll my eyes every single time the chorus of “HS4 at midnight” graced my TikTok For You page. But alas, when I needed Styles most, he was right on time. On January 15th, Styles announced his fourth studio album, “Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally” to his 46 million followers on Instagram. 

The spirit of Paul Revere took over me as I texted every person I knew, wide-eyed in the dining hall after he released his first album. I couldn’t believe a few things: one, Styles is releasing a new album, two, Styles had hair again (don’t bring up the buzzcut, please and thank you), and three, the album cover was that. 

I’ve craned over my laptop on Canva long enough to have an appreciation for graphic design, which is why my first reaction was to think it was a joke. But, I think I’ve warmed up to the album cover. After all, Styles released merchandise in 2020 with his hot pink hands on a poop brown crewneck and crafted a music video around saving a gigantic CGI fish. So truly, it is par for the course for him. And I can’t go around judging the album cover too harshly when deep down I am waiting for March 6th to roll around. 

In addition to his album announcement, Styles released the album’s first single “Aperture” to much acclaim. I find the song to be charming and a fantastic mid-winter pick me up. Certainly different from the songs “Kiwi,” “Golden” and “Matilda” of yore, but it has the same warmth and is a good demonstration of his range of talent. If the rest of the album has the same upbeat tone and soft lyrics, I can see myself really enjoying it. 

While the chorus of “Aperture” goes “We belong together,” his tour dates certainly do not seem to endorse this message. When his tour dates were released, I read them too fast to realize he was barely going anywhere, only seven cities across the U.S., Europe, Australia and South/Southern America. 

Demand has been incredibly high for these tour tickets, leading to long Ticketmaster queues and people decrying the evilness of the website and ticket scalpers. 

I wasn’t planning on attending the tour, given the inconvenience of the dates and location, but I have observed the outcry. I hope those who really want it come out of the ticket war victorious. Personally, Styles can stay in poster form on the wall of my dorm so long as I can help it.