🏡 A HARRY'S HOUSE REVIEW 🚪
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IT'S HARRY DAY! As you may have guessed, this newsy is going to be a lil less 'news of the day' vibes and a little more 'holy fuck Harry Styles just released a new album' vibes - but I think we're down for that eh???
First of all, I wanted to shout out the amazing harries who attended both our New Zealand and Australian listening parties - these were the COOLEST AND COZIEST EVENTS IN THE WORLD, and that's down to the love that everyone who attended (and everyone who missed out on tickets) showed to both us and Sony (who ran allll the admin on these events) - you're all amazing.
Now a few more details for ya! I wanted to share with you some photos from the New Zealand one, because it was SO cozy and SO special, and I think you'll all vibe with it. PS yes, Harry did select every little detail, down to the scent of the candles, the type of flowers, the food we ate (sushi), the drinks (grapejuice) - everything!
Harry chose the flowers, the candles (the Diptyque Tubéreuse Candles to be exact), and there were even POSTCARDS that we all wrote messages to him on that will be sent to 'Harry's House.'
The Australian one (which we virtually hosted, thanks Covid) was JUST as wholesome and I was getting videos and updates the whole night. You all rock my socks and THIS IS WHY FANS SHOULD BE IN CHARGE OF HOSTING THE EVENTS!!
PS, we did a quiz at our NZ party, and one of the questions was an extremely niche one (from way back in me and Ruby's One Direction days where we would watch their X-Factor performances on repeat) and it was:
"Harry hits a REALLY bad note in one of 1D's X-Factor performances - what song was it in?" And NO ONE GOT THE ANSWER RIGHT.
So here I am, blessing you (or cursing you) with Harry's bung note in 'Your Song' (it's at the end and I'm so sorry for the second-hand embarrassment you're about to feel, but it's actually endearing and he's REALLY GOOD NOW, so...)
MY HARRY'S HOUSE REVIEW
A fresh ep of The Shit Show!
Do you check both ways at an intersection even if you're not the driver?
A Harry’s House Album Review: Harry’s Funky New Styles
Disclaimer: I am not a music critic - I am a music (and more specifically, a Harry Styles) fan. I reckon life is so much more fun when you’re a fan of things, so as you’re reading this just know that I’m over here losing my mind, and prepare for the chaos which will follow.
The overall Harry’s House vibe
It really is like nothing we’ve heard from Harry before, which is literally the point of new music. As he said in his interview with Zane Lowe, so many people love artists for the music they’ve already made, and don’t want them to ‘stray’ from that - but that music already exists and is never going away - you can go and listen to it any time! Art is about evolving and expressing who you are - or how the world is (or at least your experience of it) - at a certain point in time, and that’s what Harry’s House feels like it’s done.
Musically it’s funky, it’s synthy and his voice feels really… relaxed??? Like, he’s really not trying to do too much with it (except for some scatting in track one!!!) and it WORKS! That’s about the end of my technical adjective-using musical expertise.
Rubes described it as a ‘sexy blur,’ and Liv said it was ‘much dreamier’ than she expected. We were ALL obsessed.
Now, some notable tracks:
Music for a Sushi Restaurant
AN ABSOLUTE BOP. It’s quirky as hell, you’re not going to expect it, and the man literally used his voice as an instrument throughout it. HE EVEN SCATS. You’re gonna love it.
Late Night Talking
We heard this at Coachella but let me tell you, it’s even BETTER from the studio. This was the song that was stuck in my head at the end of the night, which is an extremely good sign (of the times.)
As It Was
As soon as Harry released this song I breathed a HUGE sigh of relief. As someone who has made him quite a large pillar of their media company, I was hoping this was going to be a banger. Predictably - it was. The vibes of this song are unmatched - when we listened to this it literally got every single person in the room up and dancing (all wearing our headphones, of course.) I can confirm that this is the perfect song for a silent disco.
Cinema
This song was a crowd favourite and contained my favourite line from the album. It’s a repetition of: “Do you think I’m cool, or am I too into you?” It definitely feels like it’s from the same world as ‘Late Night Talking’ and that is a world I never want to leave. Fun fact: John Mayer is credited as a session player on this song.
Little Freak
As a self-described little freak, I had HIGH hopes for this one. I think (based on the name alone) it was the track I was most looking forward to and it turned out to be one of my favourites of the night. There’s a moment where harry says “You never saw my birthmark” and it’s super simple and really singled out and I want you to keep your ears out for that, coz it’s magic.
Boyfriends
When I first heard Harry say ‘and to boyfriends everywhere, fuck you’ when he introduced this at Coachella, I knew it would be legendary - and it was. It’s soft and melodic - it feels super different to basically every other song on the album - but it’s a GREAT precursor to the big finale.
Love of My Life
I expected this to be a slow, ballad-y love song, and the fact that it defied my expectations and was a straight banger is the reason I think this was one of my other favourites from the night. This song - a perfect finale - took on so many personalities, and you’ll know what I mean by that when you hear it.
You can guarantee that any songs that I didn’t single out here were also phenomenal (‘Matilda’ will make you cry, while ‘Keep Driving’ and ‘Satellite’ will force you out of your seat), but I want you to go and experience it all for yourself from the comfort of your own house - and PLEASE give me all your thoughts and favourite songs!
'The Great Replacement' & the shooting in Buffalo, explained
New Episode of The Shit Show — open.spotify.com
A big episode of the show this week! We give you all the context and details you need on the latest mass shooting in America, discuss the symbolism behind McDonalds leaving Russia, North Korea's latest covid updates, and introduce you to the duck who ran a marathon.
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Our HUGE SYSCA reading list! (✨Supporters only✨)
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