Every Single Album - A Post–'Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally' Mailbag

Episode Date: March 13, 2026

We're not ready to stop discoing. Nora and Nathan open the mailbag and answer your lingering questions about Harry Styles's new album, 'Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally.' They talk about their favorite songs a week from release (1:00), who would have made the most sense as a feature on this record (33:09), and whether or not they've figured out what "baby sleeping upon a candy bar" means (40:58).Hosts: Nora Princiotti and Nathan HubbardProducer: Kaya McMullen Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello and welcome to every single album. I'm Nora Pryanti and I am joined as always by my friend Nathan Hubbard for some bonus Harry styles content. How does it feel, Nathan? How does what feel? Bonus Harry Styles content. I don't know. It recorded on Saturday about Kiss all the time, just go occasionally.

And it is now Wednesday afternoon. Yeah. Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. four days later, a little less than a week from the time when we first heard this album. And we're back with a little bonus episode, taken some questions, and revisiting some of our takes now that we've had a little bit of time for this album to sink in. And maybe we'll just kick it off and start because that is basically what the first question we have is, which is from Sophie. It is how is it sitting nearly a week in? have any songs changed in your estimations?

Nora, I always try to stay growth mindset, open, curious, and to not like get too baked into what we do. Because part of our thing is that like we respond really quickly. And I think we hear a lot from people like, oh, would you change your mind if you waited longer? And one of the things that I enjoy about the work that we get to do together is I think that we actually formulate these opinions pretty quickly. And when I look back on the takes that we have, I generally do not change my mind very much.

Like I think the way that you and I listen to music together, for whatever reason, helps me form like fairly strong opinions that are loosely held, but that tend to persevere. And we haven't had enough time to really process fully and see if we're going to, you know, in a month or a year, if we're going to change the way that we feel about this. but I don't. Like, I have sat with this album. I've talked to a lot of people about it, and I'm actually more interested in whether you think people actually like this,

but I'm guessing somebody asked that question, like the sort of critical and fan response. But to me, I still think that coming up roses, just for tonight, let's go hang over chasing. Pop and Dance No More. is the best part of the album. It's the stuff I like the most. When I watched the concert from Manchester,

which was super cool, like I thought that those were the songs that played the most. Like, pop is the big song. He didn't ever sing the word pop in that concert because the whole crowd did and the album had come out that date. Like, you can just feel that that is the one that's sitting in the chamber. That's the bullet that's still in the chamber.

But I feel the same way. he did a really admirable job of tackling a really hard problem, which is following up an album of the year with something new. It's really interesting. It doesn't move me deeply in too many spots, but I really enjoy it. How do you feel with this little bit of space that we've had? Well, first of all, I agree with your global point, which is that to the extent that sometimes my opinions shift a little bit with time, it's usually actually that I will come back to what was my gut instinct when I initially heard something. And then sometimes things morph a little bit, particularly as you're preparing, like, I agree with you. There's something where I feel like when we

talk about things, I understand how I feel about them, which I guess is the point of podcasting. But when you are preparing to talk about something, whereas music is intended to be listened to, right? It's not made to be talked about on a podcast. There's something about preparing for that exercise that it intellectualizes the content, right? And that is something that usually helps me. Occasionally, I will then go back and go, okay, I actually like the ideas that something generates more or less than the actual thing of it. But like, for the most part, I agree with you. I find myself going, no, I pretty much still feel that way. And I think that is true for this too. I think there are some, again, like the ideas that were brought forth in our first

conversation. Some of those things, I think, have solidified for me in one way or another. There are also some things that I think we had identified. Like, both of us talked a lot about both pop and Dance No More being these potential second half of the album hits. I feel more confident, however many days later, that it's pop. I think both of those are great songs, but it feels like pop is the one. All you had to do was watch him do it. And it was like, oh shit, this is what people are responding to. And so there are some little things like that. I think some of my feelings about

where he seems to be in terms of his willingness and his interest to expose himself and share himself lyrically. Like I think I have more fully formed thoughts about some of that stuff now. But for the most part... I'm interested to hear that.

Well, I mean, I think like the more I think about it, I just, I listen to this album and I hear, I hear someone who, by his own admission, has been going through this time where he's been thinking a lot about, like, why is it, why, why me in the sense of what is it that I, Harry Styles, as a human man, actually have to offer these screaming hordes who deify me? and who hang on my every word and lyric. And I think when I first listened to the album, I was kind of trying to put puzzle pieces together and assume that there was an answer in this album. And I don't mean this is a bad thing necessarily, although, like, I think that it's sometimes something

that challenges the album. I don't think he has an answer to that question. I don't think he knows. I think this is an album from a early 30s guy who had a lot of life thrust upon him when he was 16 years old, has been going, going, going since, who, again, by the things that he has said, is currently sitting back and going, whoa, like, what do I make of all of this? And I don't think that he has the answers to those things yet. And I think that is sort of a tough perspective to write an album from, it's a little bit of an interesting thing to see someone grapple with. It gives me bigger questions about sort of where he goes from here and if he ever will be able to answer those questions. But I do think that a lot of this sort of lyrical confusion from this to me now is understood more thoroughly as like Harry Stiles is in a place where maybe he's a little bit

confused about some things. So, like, those are the ways in which some of my thinking around it has evolved. I would say that, like, I like the stuff that I liked. I feel mostly consistent in the qualitative assessments that we made. Yeah, he's still seeking. So that's what I take away from this album. I don't read that much more into it than that. But I mean, Nora, like, do people like this?

I think mostly, yes. I think. Like, you and I liked it. Do people broadly like this? Like, I feel like Harry showed up on SNL in the crowd with Ryan Gosling. That felt like, you know, milking it for all its worth. Yeah. And setting it up.

Like, there's a lot of photos of him and Zoe Kravitz walking around, New York with coffees and listening to headphones and so forth. I just can't tell if this is, in fact, a cultural takeover. Like, there's some people who... Well, I mean, it's done really well, right? Like, on a numbers basis, it is being consumed at a very high rate. You know, we will see what the longevity of that is. I will say that when I put a call out for questions that we're going go through on this show, the amount of, you know, look, like some, I've, I've done that with Taylor Swift albums that we've had criticisms of in the past. And there's always a certain proportion of those responses where it's, I can't believe you guys don't hear this this way. Like, I can't believe

you guys don't love this. This is my favorite thing. This is my favorite thing of hers. And I don't, I'm trying to think if we got anything that said that. I'm, it's not to say that that those questions were really negative in tone. A lot of them seemed to like parts of the record. I just don't think that there was anyone who was responding to that by saying, I can't believe you're not hearing this. This is my favorite Harry Styles record ever. The one area of that is there are some real American girls stands. Yeah. I'm hearing that. And I see you and I respect you. It hasn't, I haven't seen the light yet, but I do want to acknowledge that there are clearly people. for whom that song really, really works.

So that's an example of that. I would not say for the most part, I'm hearing a lot of, oh my God, this is my favorite Harry Styles album from people, from really anyone, from critics, from... But I'm also not hearing, to your point, like, life of a showgirl was, in hindsight, one of the most divisive releases

that I can remember on record going to a fan base where some people were just like, genuinely, this is great. Then some people were in like a Stockholm syndrome like, this is great. No, this is great. And then there were some people who were like, I do not like this. This is the first time that I feel alienated and, you know, not like angrily, but just like this, this doesn't feel like it resonates with me. This record, I'm not getting the sort of spectrum of responses. I think people also, for whatever reason at this moment in time and some of it is maybe the war.

Some of it is maybe spring break, but... Donna Kelsey's home renovation, of course. Well, absolutely it is. It feels like some people are still discovering the album. So I'll be interested to see how the SNL appearance, whether that moves the casual potential listener forward on it. Yeah. Well, and I think some of that is because it is, to the extent that a Harry

styles album, and an album following up an album of the year can ever be this. It is relatively modest in its scope in the sense that it does kind of telegraph that it's not trying to be a hit parade. It's trying to do something that he is interested in, that he thinks reflects. In an odd way, one of the things that I find kind of charming about this album is that Harry is going full LCD sound system head at a moment when, like, LCD sound system has never had worse cachet. Like, there's something that feels very true about that that I like.

And I think the fact that you don't feel desperation from him for it to be of a certain scale, you know, you can contrast that with something like the show. girl rollout, which I do think, like, people calibrated their reactions to having been told that it was 12 perfect songs and all of that stuff. Like, he hasn't done that. And I think that does enable people to maybe occupy a little bit more of a middle space for it. But I do think that there is a group that has come out pretty strongly. And there's a question that we got from Yonik that was, does it surprise you that most of critics seem to hate this album. And my assumption is that that is mostly in response, because

there are also some positive reviews for the album. I think the Metacritic score is 70. When I went through that, it did seem like the sort of real music publications were on the lower side and some more trades and other things were on the higher side. But that's still a totally, totally decent to even kind of good score. So like I'm quibbling with the premise a little bit, but Shod DeSouza wrote a review in Pitchfork that was attached to a 5.6. And then there was also a stereo gum review by Christaville that was critical. And I think both seemed to center on a feeling that there's just not really a lot of

there there with this album. but maybe also with Harry generally, I'm not saying that I agree with that, but that when you remove the hooks and the clear hits, you're not left with much remaining. How does that line of criticism, which definitely in the water stream about this, sit with you?

Yeah, I mean, there's a little bit of, hey, can an album be interesting and boring at the same time? I don't feel that, but I've heard that. Yeah, I mean, that's the question. I'm not bored by this album. I find it very interesting and intriguing. I just didn't find it hugely moving. I was moved by coming up roses.

I was certainly moved by the performance of pop where I looked at this and I was like, man, I don't know how you can look at this and think this guy's not one of the biggest stars in the world. Like look at these people a day into the release of the album and how they're receiving it. and just like, just look at him. Like, he's just effortlessly, you know,

smooth and connecting with that whole crowd. But yeah, I mean, I understand it. Like, I just, I would remove the, I don't think it's boring. Boring is absolutely the wrong word for this. Like, the production is interesting and layered and complex and nuanced. And you brought up on the first pod,

you know, the surprise that you had at the number of acoustic instruments that make their appearance. And the way, songs start and stop and devolve and second verses have different chord progressions than first verses and lots of just it's interesting. You could never claim that people did not work hard on this album. No, it's complex in a lot of ways. And that's why I think multiple listens help you appreciate the album a bit better. But I don't think the foundation of the songs changes on multiple listens.

And I don't think the foundation of the message changes on multiple listens. And for some people, again, I find it really interesting. I'm not deeply moved by it, but it is a very difficult thing to follow up an album of the year. And I think that the ghost of that, the specter of it, was very much in the studio,

in the work that they were doing in some capacity. It just feels that way. And I think they made choices to not necessarily try to recreate fine line. Like I appreciate that each Harry

solo album is different and is something new and unique. And I think it adds to the aura and the credibility of him as an artist. I don't think the intention here was to create the absolute smash meltdown, take over the world, number one hit, you know, all of the records that Taylor very aggressively and purposefully pursued. I don't think that was how he defines success for this album. You know the high esteem with which I hold the artist I'm about to mention. So take this in and don't get mad at me. Okay. Is Harry Duelipa? Is Harry male Duelepa? No. I don't think so. I think I think Harry has a bit more perceived credibility from... Perceived? Yeah. I think from the from the critical press. I mean, I think he does. I think

Dua Lipa did not, you know, Duleepa really, I think, always is trying to go mainstream with what she puts out. And that's not a knock or criticism. I just think like that's the target that she's trying to hit. There's a lot from that first Harry Styles record that was designed to almost make him an indie rock art more Jeff Buckley than the weekend. Yeah, and we can, you like the first Harry Styles record more than I do personally.

I don't love it. And so I think that's where I start to quibble with, okay, yes, he has made those attempts. But when Harry Styles is functioning on all the cylinders that we're used to him functioning on, how it has for the most part been pretty mainstream. It has, for the most part, been pretty centered on feelings of euphoria and having, a great time and let's all get together and dance. And again, like, you know how far from pejorative this is to me, but I think it's a question that I raise because I do think that you, that like, most of the conversation that we're having right now is about how expectations and reality

for different artists, it's not a circle. It's some type of Venn diagram and how, how, thick or thin is that center space. And I do think that there are expectations of Harry that are different. Yeah. And I wonder with love if the reality is a little less different. I don't know. Like, Do it does not have a sign of the times. And I don't even love that song.

Like, he closed with that the other night. And it's too close to Purple Rain for my taste. But like, from the dining table, which he also played. Or like, I'm not spoke since you in a way. Comfortable silence is all the radio. Or, like, and I'm not, I don't even mean to just pull from the first album. I just, I think there are more, like, music from a sushi restaurant. Excuse me, green tea music for sushi restaurant.

There just is stuff that is not up the middle in the way that I think do his stuff. Like her last album, she really tried to go deep. And what we talked about was it was lovingly comical that it didn't quite get there for us. Sure. Sure. And I want to be clear that I'm not making a one-to-one comparison. I think what I'm saying is that like the things that I love about both of these artists are pretty similar. And then sometimes there is this separate expectation for Harry that he has courted in a lot of ways.

and I think that when he is chasing that, which to some extent he is doing on this album, and to some extent I think he's not. The extent to which he is, I think, is that he does feel like he's doing something that is sort of, quote, unquote, serious in some ways. The extent to which he's not is I don't feel like he is really desperate for like the accolades of that externally. I think he has more mixed results when he does that.

And so is Harry Styles duolipa? I guess like you, my answer to that question is no. Is Harry Styles really good at being duolipa? And do I maybe miss a little bit of him engaging with that side of himself? Sure. I think that's true. Harry's also already been the biggest artist in the world. And I think you have to look at everything that comes in his solo career through that prism.

Yeah. Like he's sort of been on that mountain before. I also think, and I was going to say this earlier, I don't know there's anybody who's got a Duolipa song or a Duolipa tattoo. Like people love Dua, but like there are people who will camp out for weeks. There must be Duolipa tattoos out there.

I'm sure, but not in the same volume. I take your point. I certainly take your point. Like people camp out for Billy Eilish. They camp out for Harry. They camp out for Taylor. You know, I don't do it. And that is for a lot of reasons,

but one of them is because Duolipa, does not give very much of herself. Dualipa sells a vibe and a party and an aesthetic and gives very little... Yeah, gives very little that's deeply personal. I hear a lot from Harry that kind of sounds like he wishes that's what he did. And it's probably too late for that.

But like there's just, that's a path... It's way too late for that. It's a path occasionally traveled, but mostly not traveled, that I think is sort of an... interesting comparison point for him is all that I'm ultimately saying, though I did phrase the question in a way to be loosely provocative. Here's another one. Alfredo asks, is Harry right now a clear candidate for the Super Bowl halftime show? What do you think? I think he is not. Oh, wow. I think

he is. Not necessarily next year, but I think he's definitely on the list. Oh, he's a million percent on the list. Don't get me wrong. Sorry. I did. I misunderstood the question. I thought the question is, is he going to like do it next year? And I think no. I think part of the, you know, the job of these residences is to be intimate and together and in person and to not then go on the Super Bowl and make it for everybody. I think it feels like it's Harry wants you to come into his house. But yes, from a, is this a guy who a million percent would, yes, because it, it then would align perfectly, that's where the One Direction reunion could potentially happen. Totally. Totally. Because he has the hits that so many people don't even quite realize how well they know,

but they know them by heart and they would start listening. And even people who, like a lot of the best half-time show artists are people who, even to an audience member who's maybe skeptical of them going in, all of a sudden goes, oh, I know so many of these songs. And Harry could really, really do that if they dipped into the One Direction catalog. And obviously, there's the ability to have special guests for that. I, you know, look, from the sort of business perspective, usually you want to do that when you're about to be promoting something, as opposed to when you've already done all of the stuff. I also, at the risk of repeating myself, I think that he sounds more ambivalent about being a

public-facing person than he ever has right now. And that seems like an odd time to go and do this. but I think that eventually, if there's a moment that feels right, I certainly think that he would make a lot of sense from Rock Nation and the NFL's perspective as an artist who would be really good at that. If he's going to double host SNL, why can't he do the Super Bowl halftime show?

Well, good segue. This is from... So, okay, part of how I do this, if the name in the handle is apparent to me, I, you know, run the risk of somehow being wrong and try to say a person's name. him. This one is just the handle because I wasn't sure what was going on. I rock backwards, I think. And this is a great question. What two songs do we think he's going to perform on us now?

Well, I think it's probably going to be Aperture and American Girls, but I would be inspired if he managed to drop one of those for pop. I think American girls were going to see. I almost wonder if he, like, I guess he sort of has to do Aperture. Does he, though? He just did it. on the Brits. He's done it a lot. So could he do American girls and then do pop? That's what I want him to do. That I think would be the best choice. Yeah, it would be awesome. The ability to work something a little bit fresher into what he's performing live. That's like a little bit of, it's not wish fulfillment, but wish prognosticating, I guess. Wish casting is the word I was looking for, but I also think that there's a genuine possibility that that's what he ends up doing.

Yeah, because that second slot is usually used for the song that's coming next, for the one you haven't heard. And, you know, it's after the new sketch, it's before the weird last actual sketch. Like, it's an opportunity for the diehards to throw them a bone. But the timing of the release of American Girls video and it being treated as a single and the fact that aperture is sort of in their wheelhouse already makes me think those are the two. But American Girls as the first song, Pop is the second, to your point, I think would be inspired. And that's what I'd love to see. Okay. Same thing about the handles. I think this is Arc 4M. Do you think this album competes in the Grammys next year? How do we define it? It's going to get nominated. I think it is going to get nominated.

Yeah. I would expect it to be nominated for album. of the year. I would too. I mean, what do we think are the ones so far in the window that are going to be competitive? I would expect there to be some noise around Lily Allen's album. I would expect there to be some noise around Rosalia's album. Yeah. Taylor is going to get nominated.

I don't think that she's going to win much, but I think she will get nominated. Taylor's going to be in the mix. And then we've still got potentially Gracie, potentially Noah, potentially Phoebe. I love the Mumford record. I think there's an interesting set of albums. It would be un-Grammy-like to, given the overall quality of the album to not nominate him. Do you think it's possible that they would try to submit this in anything not pop?

Anything alternative? It's not really, it's not electronic enough to work that way. No. And then I think it runs into the problem where, like, I'm just not sure that this is a major category winner. I think it's a major category nominee. And then when you get to the pop stuff, it's the least pop Harry Styles record in some time, despite having a song called pop. So I wonder if it'll get a lot of nominations, but not win a whole ton. But as you said, it largely depends on what else is to come between now and the end of the cycle.

I mean... I don't think it's going to be out of the Grammy conversation. I don't think it is an afterthought. I mean, again, we know that this voting body likes itself some Harry Styles. This is a major, major artist. This is a at least serviceable and in a lot of ways very interesting album that gives people a lot to engage with, even if they don't love it. I have a hard time seeing that formula adding up to anything less than it's in the mix. Yeah, I just, I just want to remind you that the last

time that he won the Grammy, or that when he won the Grammy, these are the other nominees. Adele's 30. Mary J. Blige's album, Good Morning, Gorgeous. Brandy Carlisle's in These Silent Days. Kendrick Lamar, Smith, Mare, and the Big Steppers. Yeah. Cole plays music of the spheres, Beyonce's Renaissance. Yeah. Lizzo's special, Bad Bunny, Abba Records. I mean, that's what he beat. And I think the reason that I'm saying that is because I, he won.

I like that album a ton, but there was some split voting situation. Like he was not amongst the favorites that year. It was a bit of a surprise. It was an upset. That does not make it invalid in any way, share performance. In fact, I think that that album really ages well, and all you have to do is see how the crowd reacted to as it was the other night, right, to know that there's some really big stuff on there.

I just, you know, there are going to be some heavy hitters that are in the mix. Again, I do think that they'll put them in there, because if nothing else, they want them involved in the telecast. I think that's right. I think that's right. Okay, this is not really so much a question, but it is from abs. Dot Butler, and it does echo a sentiment that came up several times, so I wanted to address it. Reconsider calling it KISCO, K-I-S-S-C-O, instead of cat-dow, please.

My answer to this is respectfully no, though I do think that KISCO is probably what is ultimately going to take hold because it is a lot easier to say. But I think that cat dough embodies the strangeness of the punctuation situation, the experience that we all had initially of having to look at this album and look at this announcement and go, kiss all the time, disco occasionally. Okay, that's what it's called. And I think it's important that actually some of that awkwardness be part of the acronym. him. And yet I do think that that is the reason that Kisco is, or the lack of that awkwardness is ultimately the reason that Kisco will win the day, but not in my house. Yeah.

I don't know. I just am calling it the new Harry album. Like, I can't get into the acrony. People are calling it Kisco. And I get, but it's just like it rhymes too much with disco and there's not that much disco. Yeah. These are the things that keep me up at night.

I don't know. It's fine. Also, by the way, I feel like I should address that the, there's now in the Spotify listing of this album, there is a period at the end of the album title. Yeah, they changed it. They changed it. Maybe someone's listening to us. But, yeah. It also, the period always has been there on the album art.

Like in those two little circle, the circle and square where it says. says in the pink and blue letters kiss all the time and then disco occasionally. There's always been a period there. So I think the period is canon. That was a metadata screw up? Metadata entry screw up. Okay. All right.

Here's one from Andy. What artist would have collaborated well with Harry on this record and on which song? Hmm. Where do you land on this? Why isn't it, Doolipa? Oh my God. You're on one. Why isn't it Duelipa on Dance No More? Interesting.

Yeah, she'd be great. It would be a funny little in-joke about the dancing. I do, I'm not trying to like beat the dead horse of this one question that I asked you sort of randomly. But I do think that they are the two most effective vibes merchants of our time. And I'm not saying that that is all Harry is. I'm not saying that is all Dulaepa is for that. matter. But I think that their powers of like being kind of cool European people, if they combined forces, it would be a sight to behold. And I would love to see that happen. I think it would be fine.

I think I don't know. I need you to say like a cool rock guy or something to make up for what I just did, even though it did come from my heart. No, I, I mean, the only. The only one. The only question, it comes to the debate that we just had earlier. Like, is Dua actually on Harry's level of stardom? I don't think she is. I think that would be collaborating down slightly. Well, okay. I mean, if he collaborates up,

I think you can make an argument for Bad Bunny. I think you can make an argument for, or Taylor Swift, but that's not going to happen. Who is he collaborating up with? He'd have to go like the sort of legend route. Yeah, maybe Or... Paul McCartney?

Not on this album. I mean, what I was going to say is I think he actually did collaborate with someone. And it was Fred again. Because it was Fred who previewed a little chunk of the album at his show in London on the last night.

So that to me feels more like where he could sort of, I don't know, gain a little bit of like rub off of good vibes and credibility from the dance community. Rufus DeSole. Well, what about, I like both of those. What about Robin, who is going to tour with him? Why? No. Because it's collaborating down.

Well, so is Rufus DeSole, by the way. that's going sideways, I think. I mean, they're obviously not as big of an artist, but it's a little bit like when Beyonce brought in all of those up-and-coming black country artists in Nashville. I think you can do an inversion of that, which is to dip back a little bit

to someone who you can acknowledge was part of spaces that you are suddenly inhabiting long before and get, something from that. And I actually wouldn't be, like, they're going to tour together. I mean, a space that he's inhabited before. How about Louis Tomlinson and Nile Horan and Zane?

How about that collab? I don't know that I've ever heard Harry Styles at a point in life seem like more close to the third rail of, I kind of wish none of this had ever happened than he is in this moment. so though the fan service of that would be lovely in many ways, I just don't think that it's the right opportunity. I don't know. He has a chance to do the funniest thing ever.

None of it happened. Aperture featuring. Yeah. Ready, Steady Go featuring Nile. Yeah. He's just like walking around downtown New York this week too. Like there's all these pictures of fans who are just stopping him at like, 20th and whatever.

He's just, I don't know. He fist-bumped that person crossing the Brooklyn Bridge. I appreciate that he's really- He's out and about. Walking the talk quite literally, isn't he? Like, he's not afraid to insert himself out there. It doesn't even seem like he's being trailed by a bunch of security, although I'm sure there's some people around.

But, like, good for him for not just going in a bubble and hiding. Yeah. Yeah. No, I think that's really true. around with a Chanel flat bag and a layered sweater and t-shirt and great weather on the East Coast. He's enjoying it. He's soaking it in. Who has time as double musical and guest host to walk around downtown Manhattan at Wednesday at 3.30? Like maybe the schedule's so late that that was before he had to show up. Well, but also, look, what are we circling around in so many ways in this conversation, right? Which is not to say that I think we're afraid of saying it, because I think

we have said it. Harry's style, one of the most, do I have the language to make this a golf analogy? Probably not. One of the sharpest tools in Harry's toolkit. I was going to try to do like clubs in his bag, but then I realized I didn't have it, so I'm aborting that whole thing. I got you. I got you. I mean, this is a safe space for golf. I'm literally here watching my brother. You can reform it into golf when I'm when I'm done. One of the best tools in Harry's toolkit, is being a mood board, is being a human mood board, is just looking and being and existing in the world in a way that people respond very positively to. So I would argue that Harry Styles is, he is on the job when he is out there strolling. That doesn't mean that I don't think that it's

something that he authentically enjoys doing and wants to do, but I do think that a certain amount of, oh, whoa, was that Harry Styles? And now there's photos of Harry Styles in a cool sweater. that people are excited about, he's at work. He's doing something that he's very good at when he does that. There's no golf analogy for that. Sorry. Thank you for, I was just looking for like one of the clubs.

Honestly, it was just like one of the clubs in his bag, but I couldn't remember that it was called a bag. What did you? You thought it was his golf sack? I was going to say golf case, I think. And I knew it was wrong. So then I was just trying to get around it. He got frozen on what the things go into.

It's his bag. He has, Mark, my brother has a brand new bag this week. In fact, it was sent all over the country almost to Puerto Rico and back, and now he's got a brand new bag. Papa's got a brand new bag. This is making me feel like I'm on a really strong foot to do the next question, which is from Gene, who asked if we could do a little bit more lyrical analysis. they said, I agree that these are Harry's most thought-provoking lyrics to date, but they are so vague and bizarre, I have no idea what he's talking about.

And again, and from a place of humility as the person who just almost said golf case, my answer is kind of no. Like, I can do more that we did at the top where I feel more grounded in this idea that he just is not quite sure what he wants to say right now. and that is like probably a like reasonable feature of the place where he is in life. And I think I more and more chalk the moments that I have trouble understanding on this album up to that. But like I haven't figured out what I think the candy bar is. I don't think it's a metaphor.

He talked about it. I don't know. look jean i can't help you there's no like deep rich text i might have missed that what did he say about the candy bar you see like a baby try like ice cream for the first time and like the sweetness of something yeah but it's always been there yeah it's always been around it's always existed and it always will exist hasn't been in your life yeah and the baby eats the ice cream for the first time their eyes just light up game over he just said that like the baby sleeping on a candy bar is like when you,

it's the allegory of the cave, right? You just don't know. He just talked about how all of the videos... You don't know that you're on the candy bar when you're sleeping on the candy bar? Well, just that the baby, when they try sugar for the first time, their eyes light up and their face goes

and they have that reaction. It's like putting a lemon in a baby's mouth or sugar in a baby's mouth. So is he using sleeping on metaphorically? like sleeping on me. It's been there the whole time, but you didn't know. And they didn't know how good sugar is because they'd never had it. May I say that I had never once considered the possibility that he wasn't describing a baby

literally sleeping atop a Hershey chocolate bar? Not one time until this very moment right here. So there, we did some more. That was further than I thought we'd get, frankly. Gene, you are welcome. You are so welcome. Okay, here's another lyrics question. This one is from Emily.

Although it's not really a question, but this is, again, something that came up enough in the responses that I felt like we had to address it. Emily says, I need Harry to stop singing about bellies and tummies. I've had enough. And so there are two instances on this album in Ready, in Ready, Steady Go, he says,

You Touched Me Goodnight, Butterflyed both are bellies. And then are you listening yet? He's got a big butterfly on his belly. He does have a big butterfly on his belly. Says, you like the way she talks, but never what she said, says, you've had your tummy tickled. Are you listening yet?

And this is, of course, from the man who brought us, I want your belly and that summer feeling in watermelon sugar. You've had your tummy tickled. Are you listening? How do you feel about all of this? I don't want to talk about it. Well, I think that's what Emily's bringing up. It's enough already.

I agree. I just, I want to think about the, I don't want to think about it at all, but I want to, I want to assume that the butterfly tummy thing is related to his tattoo. Yeah. I think that's, I think in a sort of literal sense that I'm sure that's real. I also think that there, you know, there's a charm to Harry where part of it has to do with the fact that he is this, he is a, you know, he is a sex symbol. He is a modern sex symbol. And I think part of the way that he embodies that is through, like a kind of, he has a, there's a softness to his sensuality. And that as a, contrast, I think, to older archetypes of male sex symbols is compelling. And there's something about, I think, the idea of like, not just a woman, like of anybody, but like the soft parts of somebody, like their tummy, like their belly are this, like,

sensual area to him. To me, those two things feel a bit of a piece with each other. it is therefore interesting to me to note that the charm of that does seem at least for some to have worn off because we got quite a few variants of this sentiment that no one wants to hear bellies and tummies anymore. So this makes me think of a story I heard. I got a friend who's got an eight-year-old kid who came home and insisted that there was a kid who at recess was just standing in the corner and every time a kid walked by, anytime any kid walked by this kid in the corner,

the kid in the corner would kick them in the privates. And my friend was like, I don't know about this. Something sounds fishy about this story, but the kid was adamant, that somebody was standing in the corner during recess and kicking other people in the privates. And so my friend finally was like,

I'm going to test him and like see, how far he can take the lie. So he goes, okay, fine. Well, I'll look into it. What's this kid's name? And his eight-year-old son froze for a second. And he answered, Jeff tickle-nuts.

And that's what this makes me think of. This makes me think of these hairy tummy things. It's all Jeff tickle-nuts. And that's just an analogy between, like you're just drawing a parallel between the way that the words belly and tummy sound and the way that Jeff tickle-nuts sound. It's just like made up silliness. That's really good.

That's really funny. Jeff Ticklenuts is really funny. I bet Harry Stiles would think that story is hilarious. Harry Sells would love Jeff Tickl Nuts. And I really like that about him. Yeah, I do. I appreciate that Harry's walking through New York City in George Clinton and the P-Funk All-Stars band merch.

I appreciate that Harry would love. Harry would probably run a marathon under the name Jeff Tickle-Nuts. Let's see if the next marathon name he uses, fuck Stead Sarandos. Let's go Jeff Ticklenuts. From Stead Sarandos to Jeff Ticklenuts would be an iconic turn. And I really hope it happens. There was no kid in the corner kicking people in the privates.

Okay. I don't know how we just close out on a normal question now, but I do think that it's a good one. Let's leave it with Katie, who asks, what changes to the tour set list would you make from the one night, only set list. And that set list was basically he played the album straight through top to bottom and then did a series of encores that was from the dining table, golden, watermelon sugar, as it was, sign of the times. And then he closed with aperture for a second time. But in terms of

cat dough, he went top to bottom. I mean, I don't really have any problems with that set list. Like, I would have liked... So he did... He said to the crowd, this is probably the only time that I'm going to do this... Right.

This way, every song top to bottom. So he did at least imply that there are going to be changes. I think there will be. I mean, there's going to be more from the rest of his catalog. What else could he have played... That's what I was going to say,

as I think it's just going to be more. ...steal my mother-effing girl. He could have played Stockholm Syndrome. You know, he could have played Cherry. which I adore. I didn't really, he could have played music for a sushi restaurant.

Like, he could have played... I bet there will be some more hits from Harry's house that we get into. Yeah, there will be, for sure. This was a top to bottom album

and a little... I've just given you dinner. It's time for... It's time for a little dessert. Here is a so turn and a delicious apple cobbler. Wow. That sounds fabulous.

I'm going to play you a few things that you didn't expect. And I think the thing that was most unexpected was from the dining table. That's going to be for the diehards. But I'm going to give you a few hits. I was surprised, actually, they did watermelon sugar. And as it was like, it was a pretty down the middle encore. I think those songs will stay on the set list. I think he's doing 30 days at Madison Square Garden.

I think for all of the instincts to go a little bit more left of center than usual that feel like they're involved in this album, I don't think that you sign up to do 30 days at Madison Square Garden if you are not ready to, to some extent, give the people what they want at their basest level. Yeah, but you also don't do 30 days at Madison Square Garden in the same set list. So we're going to get, I bet we're going to get surprise songs on steroids. This set list is going to change night in night out. I imagine, look, the learning from the Taylor Surprise songs is you've got to have a part of your set every night that is worth people turning into on the internet. Yeah. And tuning into.

Hopefully people don't turn into those songs actually, but that they are tuning into on the internet. That, to me, was the lesson. He has done that extra musically. Yeah. So far mostly where he's, you know, he's doing the, he's naming fruits. He's always naming fruits. and every night it's what's he going to say about the fruits and he's doing the signs and all of that.

I imagine all of that will continue, but I think that he will have to find a musical way to have surprises like that. And I think that's the point. Like, give us Girl Crush one night, give us cherry the next night, give us, right? I think he will do that. He will keep this fresh because I think,

A, just out of his own boredom, it's hard to go, from a production standpoint, if you think about what has to, to actually happen to sink the, there probably won't be pyrotechnics because this is inside, but a lot of the, you know, LED screen,

high-deaf stuff and the light show and everything. Like, you can't throw too many curveballs unless you're going to do something more like, you know, a dead show with mayor, where they just picked the set list in and out of every hour, Dave Matthews and the crew has to be ready to go for anything. I don't expect it's going to be that way. My assumption is that 90% of the set list

every night is going to be fairly baked, and then they're going to rotate some things in or out, and he'll do some surprise stuff that's a little bit more stripped down and with less production. And that's great, because that's a fun way to see him, and he's got plenty of songs that lend themselves well to that. Yeah, and I think it'll be more than 18 songs, ultimately.

Maybe not a ton more, but more than the one night only set list. Yeah, for sure. All right. That wasn't even 10. Good stuff. Great questions, everybody. The overarching question that I still have is, like, in the aggregate, do people think that this is good? Or are they sort of just...

It's fine, right? Like, is this going to actually have a cultural splash? And that's what I'm from pop, by the way. Here's what I think. Tell me. Honestly. I think that for more people than is ideal and more people than usual, there is a twinge of disappointment in their experience of this album. I think that we are all... going to experience a form of positive collective amnesia when people see it live. I think that is going to turn into something that makes this very positive for people and where all of a sudden these songs sort of become... About the communal experience more so than just what you...

They become part of you. Like, they become just sort of in your catalog of... songs you think are great, in part because of the experience, and in part because of how it sounds and how it is when it's live and all of that. And I think that that will ultimately shift where people are a little bit, because I'm sure he's going to put on a great show. I do think that in the aggregate, I don't think there are a lot of people who hate this album. No. I do think that the median experience is one that comes with a twinge of, ah, is that all? Or, ah, I really, I wish, yeah, I was good, but I wish, I wish for something a little bit more,

which, you know, that happens. Coming up, Rose's pop, dance no more, start there. Good stuff. Take three of those and call me in the morning. This has been every single album. As always, I'm Nora Princeati. he's Nathan Hubbard. Thank you to Kai McMullen for producing this episode. Thank you to everyone who submitted questions or comments. And we'll talk to you next week.