Harry Styles’ new single gets nostalgic—for the distant past of 2010
The British musician taps into late aughts and early 2010s indie-pop nostalgia with latest single, "As It Was"
Music Features harry styles
Throughout the trajectory of his solo career, Harry Styles has usually opted for ‘70s-inspired sounds, with hints of David Bowie, Rolling Stones, and Fleetwood Mac. When he announced his third album Harry’s House, carrying the same name as Joni Mitchell’s song, it was expected that influence would also be prevalent on his third record. But in a surprising twist, the first single “As It Was” didn’t sound anything like Styles’ previous work; instead, it felt like going back in time… to just over a decade ago.
“As It Was” begins with bright synths that capture the joy of those twinkly, danceable songs from the blogrock era. Styles is a masterful songwriter, but he’s traditionally shied away from going full pop, instead taking a groovier, pared-down approach on his previous albums. The synths inject a burst of energy into this single, and show that the former boy-bander can still craft an excellent pop song—even if it’s miles away from the kind of pop he made under One Direction.
Plus, it makes for a fun round of “guess the influence.” Upon the song’s premiere, fans online began debating which indie pop bands the song sounded most like: Names such as The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, Vampire Weekend, Two Door Cinema Club, and Smith Westerns have all popped up (in this writer’s opinion, it sounds like The Drums meets Mystery Jets, with hints of Los Campesinos! and Allo Darlin’).
One music writer, Patrick Lyons, went ahead and made a bingo game about it. “Compete with your friends to see who’s following more music journalists by scrolling your feeds and playing the ‘Harry Styles new single x 2009-2011 buzzbands” bingo game,’” he wrote on Twitter. Though Lyons’ bingo card has a wide range of names, every comparison listed makes sense. It’s not far-fetched for a man in his mid-twenties who grew up in England to have been a fan of the “Tumblr twee” era. And, come on, we’re also talking about someone who recently toured with Jenny Lewis, so Styles clearly knows his twee-inclined indie pop.
16 Comments
“the blogrock era”Glad I made it through that troubling time without hearing that name, then.
That is such a terrible word I can’t believe I’m only just reading it for the first time today.
Still… remember when .mp3 blogs were one of the best ways to regularly come across new music before Spotify and Vevo on Youtube, when Pandora was just getting its legs under it, but Myspace was fading? Having 20 links to check for updates—fluxblog and aquariumdrunkard, cocaineblunts, brooklynvegan, saidthegramapone, and so many I’ve forgot? HypeMachine being the biggest thing… Such a unique moment.
That’s because it was misspelled. It should be “blaarghrock” where the first part represents throwing up.
It’s good.
huh. i was like “this spinning disc feels like a rip off of that frank sinatra piece” but luckily turns out it’s the same choreographer.. for anyone unfamiliar check out Yoann Bourgeois – Celui qui tombe
blogrock
No.
I know if I was 20 I’d feel different …but when you’re in your 40s and hear someone being nostalgic for 2010..
And if you’re in your 50s, the idea that anything that happened post millennium is in any way “different” to what’s on the radio today is even more risible. Let’s take a look at the 70s for example. We start with psychedelia, country rock, prog, folk rock etc. We then move quickly into glam and heavy metal, reggae arrives in the mainstream, country keep doing its thing, and then just when things start getting a bit safe, punk explodes. Then the decade gets rounded off with disco for some, and new wave for others, and as the decade ends the ska revival is just getting going. I know I’m simultaneously being Homer (Rock attained perfection in 1974) and Abe (I used to be with it, but then they changed what it was) but tell me the last 20 years has had anywhere near the variety in musical genres.
And synths!
I know the dangers of this line of reasoning (it is a bit like “Am I out of touch? No, it’s the children who are wrong!” to use a different Simpsons’ quote) but one thing that I think is true is that music just isn’t as important to younger generations. We used to have lovingly crafted rack stereo systems and listen to albums with 100% attention. Nobody does that anymore. Music is just some background noise to be played over crappy earbuds on shuffle while working out or jogging or something.
You all are fuddy duddys completely out of touch with the biggest revolution to music in history. There is a wider variety of genre of music than ever and just because you freaks aren’t looking for it doesn’t mean that it’s not there
Very good point.
Yeah , look this is going to sound a bit weird , but when I was a teenager and young adult , I’d feel like I actually ‘owned’ an album I liked, I’d know everything about the band , know all the songs all the lyrics , maybe even have the B sides of the singles released …and it’d feel mine somehow. I dont know if that happens today , especially since with streaming music you dont actually own anything anyway (also I’ve had to explain the idea of an album to my kids ).
Well I’m the same age and this track is giving me major “Top 100 Indie Tracks April 2010.torrent” vibes. You know, aging is mandatory, but being a miserable old fuck is a choice.
A bit earlier and a bit later, even: I thought it reminded me of The Strokes’ “Hard to Explain” (including the beat and the full-on Casablancas vocal impression) and “Blinding Lights”
Omg, I just posted a comment on ‘as it was’ on youtube saying “ I felt like I was in an Urban Outfitters in 2010″ LOL. I’m 37 now and his song brings me back to when I was 27.