Harry Styles' first solo song, titled "Song of the Times," was released last week, and it has received mixed reviews from critics so far.
Styles' album, which is produced by Columbia Records, is highly anticipated, given that he is considered to be the best vocalist of One Direction. The suspense heightened when his solo work was teased by his label as something that is different from his band's sound.
However, the music review of Independent said that his solo song does not seem to have veered that far from One Direction, unlike Zayn Malik, who had a radically different sound when he dropped his "Mind of Mine" solo album. The reviewer also noted that while Styles had good vocals, he seemed to have appropriated the sound of other musical artists, naming Queen, David Bowie, and Bruno Mars, in this solo track.
On one hand, it might not be bad, given that the album was previously marketed to sound like the first two artists, and sounding like them can be considered a musical achievement. On the other hand, the track makes it seem that Styles has not come into his own as a solo artist — at least, not yet. Nonetheless, he still is young, and he has his career ahead of him, so he may develop his own sound over the years.
Telegraph, meanwhile, noted Styles' odd choice of picking a melancholic song to launch his solo career. The review described the track to be overproduced, with its piano and guitars playing in the background, but boring at the same time. Nonetheless, it also gave props for Styles' vocals, describing his voice to have "authenticity."
Despite their criticisms about the song, the reviewers all agreed on one thing: this will be well-received by "One Direction" fans. They also said that the popularity of the band, and of Styles, in particular, practically guarantees that this will top the billboard.
Rolling Stone noted with interest that the "One Direction" members seem to have gone on different musical paths. While Styles went down the glam rock route, Niall Horan went folk and Louis Tomlinson ventured into EDM. Malik, who left the band in 2014, turned to R&B. No word has been revealed yet on what genre Liam Payne's solo work will fall under.
