FAVORITE MEMBER OF ONE DIRECTION, POST ONE DIRECTION

Louis Ratlinson lmaoooooooooooooooo

Styles is hot as hell.

Harry! Love him, much to my own surprise.

There are usually stans of porky Niall in here.

What is One Direction?

Yes, Harry wins!

Niall! But why “Hogran”? 😒

Harry wins all the way.

OP - You forgot Vivian Vance. So disappointed. 1-1/2 ⭐️s

Harry always wins these polls.

SPAZZZZZZZZZ

Welpppppppppppppppppppppp

So many trolls, so little time.

The Liam's ass thread is now pay walled so let's use this

The 2014 AMAs were a great look for Harry.

This jacket at the AMAs was a stunning look. Wish he'd go back to that.

Liam has definitely risen in popularity here since his ass pic came out! 😆

All four members set to release a single in the next few months.

Ran into the expected paywall in the other thread...

Any guesses when the next singles will be released? Liam has said late August and Niall early September. I thought Harry will release on 30 August to be just in time for Grammy eligibility, but now I'm not sure he will release on the same day as Liam. I would love if he releases his single on 23 August as Taylor's new album will come out then. Or maybe he ignores the Grammys like Niall and goes for a September date? Hard to tell...

Louis will probably release a single at the end of the years since his album will come out early next year.

Sept for Niall's single, this Friday for Liam's Stack it Up.

R16 That's how DL works :D

I just saw my typo lol in R18 lol, I wanted to write "I would laugh if he [Harry] releases on 23 August as Taylor's new album will come out then", but I guess my brain unconsciously changed it to "love", since I have to admit I'd kind of love the drama that the media would create lol.

I've read the Mirror article again and it says Liam will release his single "later this month" (not "late this month" as I initially thought) so yeah, I guess he'll release before Harry. And Harry could still release on 30 August, but who knows. By then we should also know if he'll be Prince Eric or not.

I wonder who Harry is dating these days. It's over a year since he ended things with Camille Rowe.

I think he was with this Japanese model during late 2018/early 2019, but probably single at the moment. Or hiding whoever he's with quite well.

Shit.... It seems like the fucking Prince Eric thing is confirmed. Ugh. I hate this.

Here's an official Disney source. I hope he gets paid a fucking fortune for this idiocy, because if his second album isn't the musical masterpiece of the decade he'll have a hard time recovering from this.

Correction: I'm actually not sure if this Disinsider page is an official Disney source, but anyway... they don't seem like a cheap tabloid that makes up stuff? I guess they do indeed have a source for writing this?

Oh my god, that was a real fake news rollercoaster today - but in the end the gods have answered my prayers!! He turned down Disney! Hahahaha, I love it!

He turned PE down! I wonder why? Was he asking for too much money?

In the Variety article it really seems like he wasn't that far into negotiations as some news outlets have reported. I mean, we always knew that Hollywood Life isn't a reliable source at all, so their report that he screen tested with Halle might easily have been all made up. We only really know from Variety, that he was offered the role and entered "very early" negotiatons and "might still be on the fence", so this could actually mean that they just sent him the script and pitched their vision for the film and he was like "Thanks, I'll think about it". So whatever happened, he might not never have been too keen on the role.

Personally I prefer to think that he realised he'd prefer an actually interesting role instead of PE in a Disney live-action remake. Even if it means turning down a lot of money.

I also love that people will now really focus on his upcoming music and not on the stupid Disney film.

He never was considered for the part. Stop fooling yourselves.

Because R30 knows way more than reliable industry sources like Variety, right? lmao... People are so bitter that Disney wanted Harry for that role.

The stans of the other boys are so bitter when it comes to Harry, especially his acting career.

R30 is ridiculous. Disney would have made a statement if all those articles about him being offered and turning down the role were false.

You all sound like the fraus in the Supernatural threads. Completely delusional, but funny to read.

Since when does a major movie studio puts up a statement telling "this actor/actress was never considered for the part, please move along." ? Both parties profit from the publicity, that's all. Everyone knows this.

In the future, try not to be stupid. It's the DL here, ffs.

'Since when does a major movie studio puts up a statement telling "this actor/actress was never considered for the part, please move along." ? Both parties profit from it.'

Hmmm, no. Disney look fucking stupid because little Harry Styles is rejecting them, which is fine if he DID reject them, but if he wasn't even offered the role, you bet they'd release a brief denial.

As for your crackpot theory that Harry was never offered the role and instructed his rep to say he had been and had declined it - that's just the kind of conspiracy theory I expect from a certain type of DLer.

It would be CAREER SUICIDE to release a statement that a major studio had offered you a role and you'd turned it down if this wasn't true. No other studio would come near after that kind of fuckery.

Harry looking young and fresh today.

I still really like this song. Probably the most honest Harry ever was in a song in 1d and it really showcases the power and range of his voice. He goes from belting it out in the chorus to quiet and confessional in the verses. The producer wisely kept the other three's voices to a minimum. The video is lovely too. He has that corridor moment!

And here's fetus 1d at their best. Zayn's high notes are incredible and even Louis' voice sounds okay - what happened? I guess cigarettes happened.

R37 That's from the last album, right? I think it was in general the best 1D album, had some nice songs on it. And Harry lying on that bed in the video is very... yes.... yes, I like that lol. His voice was always good, imho, I always liked it, even back when he was just a kid on X-Factor. But I think he still improved in the short time between the last 1D album and his solo album. His singing has become even more nuanced and warmer. Maybe it's mostly the composition and production of his solo album that actually allowed to properly hear and enjoy his voice, whereas the 1D sound was mostly limited to their signature stadion sound and typical radio song production (which always sounds overproduced to me).

R38 Awww, that makes me nostalgic (which is stupid because I didn't even know 1D back then). They all sound very good in that video, but in parts also a bit autotuned lol. I always thought Louis had an interesting sound, it has an interesting rasp and all. He was just not the strongest singer and I think his voice is best in a very specific setting and genre. Liam, Harry and Zayn were the best singers of early 1D. Niall always had powerful voice (although rather high), but he wasn't that good at pitch control back then. Maybe that's why he sounds a tad autotuned in that video.

Zayn was ridiculously pretty even back then.

Harry has that aphrodisiac voice that tugs at the hearts and groins of fraus and queens alike. Very unusual. I'm glad he doesn't smoke and seems to be healthy, as that husky rasp could easily become a hoarse crackle. It's a voice that's instantly recognisable.

R41 I agree. I just don't understand singers that smoke. I realise it's difficult to stop smoking, but that's your livelihood there.

I can only hope Harry takes good care of that voice apart from not smoking. Some people way more knowledgable than me have said he doesn't have the best singing technique (lots of chest voice and straining) and that it might lead to problems like vocal nodes or vocal cord hemorrhage. He did have some voice problems in One Direction and even now he's often discreetly coughing during singing or in between numbers. It makes me quite afraid for his beautiful voice and I really really hope everything is okay, especially considering that he has many friends that work in the music industry as well and know way more about vocal health than me. I guess at least someone would have told him to take care? And I think he's also working with a new vocal coach? Still, since even amazing singers like Adele, who probably had knowledgeable people in her team as well, had to have risky vocal cord surgery I can't help being concerned. Which is stupid as there's nothing I can do about it. (Hey, Harry, if you read this: take care of your lovely voice! lol)

R42, I think H is aware. He has taken a 13 month long break from singing live already, apart from that one performance at the R&R Hall of Fame.

From the Talk of the Town column in the Daily Mail today: 'Heart-throb Harry Styles has said he turned down the part of Eric in Disney’s new Little Mermaid film, but I understand the film-makers weren’t that bothered... because he looks too old! Although he’s just 25, Harry is already well-weathered after spending the past decade trying to emulate the life and style of his idol Mick Jagger. To make matters worse, his proposed co-star Halle Bailey, right, is 19 but looks about 15. Apparently the two screen tested together and Harry looked ‘all wrong’ – diplomatic code for ‘looked like her dad’.

Could be a load of rubbish but also wouldn't surprise me. They clearly wanted him to start with and he clearly put himself forward so something else happened. I have to say he does often look much older than 25 in photos and Halle does look very young.

Harry caught picking a guy up at Ariana Grande's concert tonight in London. The last time I was this handsy with another guy, we were fucking before the night was over.

Can you imagine if Shawn Mendes were filmed being this flirty with another guy?

Harry with Millie Bobby Brown at Ariana's concert tonight. He looks fantastic in his summer whites.

He's looking like a snack again.

'Although he’s just 25, Harry is already well-weathered after spending the past decade trying to emulate the life and style of his idol Mick Jagger.'

He hasn't, though. Mick Jagger was a strung out skinny guy at 25, renowned for taking tons of Class As and having orgies. He was constantly on the party circuit looking out for new women. Harry isn't like that at all. No woman or man linked to him since July 2018. He's also been pictured so many times running, cycling, boxing and going to and from the gym. He's said he believes in healthy living and has never smoked. He even said he 'likes to wake up with a clear head.'

Liam Gallagher was shocked that he only had one drink and Noel said derisively that you never see Harry Styles doing coke at Glastonbury.

I'm sure Harry has had his fair share of fun in life, including some partying and drugs, but I think it's clear that he has pretty good control over any partying and his life in general. We're talking about a guy that was papped everywhere since he was tender 17 years old and while it's clear that he did have the occasional fun night out like every teenager, there were never any reports or photos of him having drunken brawls, destroying bar furniture, "lewd behaviour", no coke parties with prostitutes, no trashed hotel rooms, no fights with paparazzi, no DUIs, nothing. To compare him to the rock stars of the 70s, who are known to have been very messy even though they didn't have 24/7 paparazzi surveillance, that's a reach...

And yes, he seems to be a bit of a health nut too.

R44 lol that's such typical DailyMail bs. Her claims really have no basis, nobody knows much about the whole project except that Harry was considered, but he declined. We don't know if he was offered the role or if he auditioned, if they ever screen tested, we don't know at which stage Harry opted out of the film project.

However what I very severely doubt is that Disney didn't want Harry after all and his team just told the press he was the one who declined. It's not that Disney would graciously allow Harry to tell everyone he isn't interested in their newest film project. That's not such a great thing for them. And they are a huge, powerful multi-billion company that doesn't owe Harry anything, they would have just done a press release that he was among candidates, but in the end they opted for [whoever will get the role]. Warner Bros did the same for the Elvis role, even though rumour has it they'd like Harry for other projects.

I'm also pretty sure Harry didn't just lie about it and said "fuck Disney" because you don't willfully anger an industry juggernaut like Disney, especially not if you're trying to break into acting. It would backfire so much, no production company likes to work with people who leak stuff to the press and lie about it. And even people who don't like Harry have to admit that he was always good at networking and leaving good impressions, so he definitely wouldn't endanger his options in the film industry.

The simplest and most straightforward explanation is that Disney offered him the role and he declined for whatever reason. I don't get why some people have such a hard time with this? Candidates turning down roles happens all the time.

Because he "looks old"? I don't see it tbh, not even in the photos the writer chose for the article (and you'd think she'd chose something to support her claim). He sometimes DRESSES old, sure, but to me he looks like a regular 25 year old guy. He's about the same age Ben Affleck and Joseph Fiennes were when they did Shakespeare in Love for example. I don't see how he looks older than them back in the day. I sometimes think that people are so used to his boy band babyface, that they expect him look like a 17 year old forever.

And Halle looks just like her 19 years, not like a 15 year old child as the article claims. That's ridiculous. In any case I'm sure the makeup department of the film could have made them look the same age on screen, so the whole argument is futile.

R45 He just puts his arm on the guy's shoulder and talks to him. If you never put your arm around anyone's shoulder in a friendly instead of a sexual way, you must be a very reserved (some would say repressed) person. Btw the guy is his guitarist, co-writer and good friend Mitch Rowland, not some dude he picked up at the concert. Mitch is also in a relationship with the female drummer of the band. Harry's bassist Adam and his wife were at the concert too.

Hilarious that people thought Mitch Rowland was Harry's latest hook up!

Harry looked very young in Dunkirk only three years ago and he hasn't changed much since then.

God, still talking about these has-beens?

Get a life people.

R52, Harry Styles is hardly a has been, dear. When he re-released his first album in pink vinyl for £30 last week, he managed to chart again at 55 in the UK album charts, 22 places above where Zayn's brand new effort, Icarus Falls, peaked.

Harry got the older frau fans with a bit of cash to splash. HS2 is going to be a number 1 on both sides of the Atlantic again.

Liam accidentally publicly posted a thirst trap photo in his instagram story before deleting it immediately lol. You'd think he'd have a fake insta for DMing racy photos to his girl(s).

On the other hand the cynic in my wonders if it was really an accident considering that his new single will be out soon. And we all know that he's not shy about showing off his abs.

Btw do we know the release date of Stack It Up? The Mirror mentioned people can hear it "by the end of August" iirc, but that's not very specific. Realistically it's either 23rd or 30th August, but I wonder why there's no announcement. Liam never seemed the type to surprise drop a new single, especially considering that it's supposed to be his "comeback" and written by Ed Sheeran.

Makes me also wonder if it has any influence on Harry's release schedule. People have been speculating if the first single for HS2 will come out in August to make it eligible for the Grammys 2020, but I don't really think he'll release his single the same day as Liam. I guess we'll get the first song of HS2 in September, hopefully together with a Rolling Stone interview since there was a rumoured photo shoot in June.

Oh, forgot to add Liam's photo:

Liam is hilarious. He probably dropped that thirst pic on purpose. His underwear shoot for Hitler Boss should be arriving soon too.

Well, I'm not going to complain. He's a good looking guy with a hot body. So... hot guy posting a half naked pic and gripping his dick? Not complaining at all.

Topless deliciousness seems to be a trend among ex-1D members lately, considering Harry's smokin' Rolling Stone cover. Definitely not complaining.

Harry's ugly in a Mick Jagger sort of way.

They look nothing alike face wise. People only compare them because Harry dresses similarly and has adopted the Jagger "dance moves" on stage. They also both have brown hair (in a sometimes similar hair cut), like rock music and were/are extremely popular with the ladies.

If you only look for facial similarities he looks much more like River Phoenix, which has been remarked quite a few times (I think when he did the last Rolling Stone interview some guy on the street was comparing him to River) - just look at the photos below.

Harry's Rolling Stone cover is red hot. Let's hope for more nudity inside.

Jagger and Harry are the same height, same brown hair and green eyes, but there the similarities end. Jagger is much thinner with a different shaped face and much bigger lips. Harry will need lip filler if he ever plays him in a film! Harry is more classically good looking than Jagger.

Jagger also has much MORE talent.

Well duh, R61. Jagger is 76 or something and Harry is only 25. The best is still to come with Harry. I hope there are a few more hits on HS2.

Totally agree. Harry is still very young.

Also Jagger was undeniably a legend for several generations of rock, but I think at age 76 he doesn't connect that much anymore with the younger generation. There aren't that many old school rock stars for the teenagers and 20something crowd in the music industry nowadays, because most popular music is either plain pop like Taylor/Ariana/Miley or R&B/hip hop or electronic music. Or either of that mixed with some rock elements, e.g. Yungblud.

I think Harry really has a chance to engage these young people and offer them some vintage rock vibes. If they like what they hear, they'll probably check out his influences and might become appreciative of the sound of the Stones, Bowie, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple and others. But these rock fossils are from another time. Harry on the other hand is a guy of their own generation and he's also alive, active, handsome and all over the internet. They can be normal young music fans of him, watch his talk show appearances on TV and youtube, buy his magazine photo shoots, look at his photos on instagram, get wild at his concerts etc.

But of course some music snobs always have to take the fun out of it by belittling those young people (especially if they are women) and Harry and telling everyone, who isn't interested that he's crap because he's not [insert dead or decrepit rock legend].

Huge new interview with Harry in Rolling Stone

I am a Larry shipper, a Larry believer if you will.

Harry bit the tip off his tongue while he was high on mushrooms.

High on mushrooms? What is this, 1967?

He is determined to drag the 70s kicking and screaming into 2019. He also refuses to be like Zayn and bash 1d, maintaining that he had a great time in the band and there is 'mutual respect' between him and the others, before saying he could never 'make a full switch' to being in the band again.

A lot of the little 1d girls are squeaking and abandoning the evil drug hoe Harry. Shrooms are mild as hell though. Get back to me when he has blinds about heroin and crack, like Zayn.

I like Louis. He doesn’t have the best voice, and he’s rough around the edges, but at least he owns it.

I'm not a little 1D girl, but I have to say I'm really disappointed. In the whole RS interview tbh, but I think especially the shroom story is just so... stupid. And somewhat disgusting, I don't really want to hear about someone biting off body parts because they are so out of it. Or losing their trousers and wallet without recollection. It just smacks of adolescent stupidity to me and turns me off.

I admit that it's mostly my own fault that I'm so disappointed, because apparently I've built up a different image of him in my mind that doesn't fit who he is now. But there were always two factors that drew me to him: first and foremost the music, which I really love. I think his debut album was amazing and I liked every single song on it. And second I just loved that he always seemed an interesting mixture of both quirky and wholesome. We all know his story, the little boy from Cheshire, who became one of the biggest stars in the 2010s, but in all the 1D interviews - despite the fame and all that - he amazingly seemed to have a good head on his shoulders and also kept that good head during the promo of his first album and Dunkirk. To me he came across as quirky, but still normal, even relatable.

I think the RS interview showed a pretty different side. It was very open and I don't criticise the way he is living or his choices - he's an adult and he should do what makes him happy. But to me personally, it's just ... idk... I feel like he either changed a lot in the past two years or was very good at hiding his real self. Personally I somehow believe it's the former. And it's not the fact that he takes drugs, I was always sure all the 1D boy have experimented. But for me personally there's a bit of a difference if someone experiments or occasionally parties in his down time or if they actually employ drugs to actually write their music. He said it's a key part of his creativity and I find that somewhat off-putting. Like R68 said, it's 2019, not the 70s. That the drugs are a key part of the music - I take it personally, because for me it cheapens what is most important to me about him as musician. When I listen to his music, I just want to listen to amazing songs and his great voice and not think all the time that it's just the product of Harry being high on shrooms and biting part of his tongue off and then crying into his microphone because he can't have sex with Camille anymore. It's just.... I don't want to know all that stuff. During promo for his first album he said he likes his songs to be authentic, to put them out there and let them speak for themselves. When he was asked about Sweet Creature he said everyone should find their own meaning. I found that so refreshing, because he just gives us his music and it can become our own. This is all changed now - to me personally it doesn't feel that authentic anymore if it's the product of a shroom trip, and he basically told us the whole meaning of the album.

And even apart from the shroom story and him being sad about losing ugly trousers, the whole vibe of the interview was somewhat ... like he's in his own bubble of nerding about 70s music, sad lonely birthdays in Tokyo, Murakami novels, wheatgrass shots and psychedelics. Maybe it's his true self, maybe it's the influence of all those fashion and music people he always hangs out with, I don't know. To me it feels like we lost the ambitious, funny young man he was in 1D and immediately afterwards. Or we never had him in the first place and it was all public image. I'm still honestly sad about it, though, which is slightly pathetic, but he was always a source of good news for me and great music and the RS interview tainted it a lot. I'm not even excited about his upcoming album, which apparently won't give us more of Kiwi or Sign of the Times, but rather a shroomy, sad Joni Mitchell/T.Rex/McCartney mixture.

Well said R71.

R69 I'm not a fan of Zayn's music and his weed fascination gets old too, but at least whatever was said about class A drugs and him were rumours and blinds, which might or might not be true. In the end whatever ails him, he keeps it mostly to himself, I think? I could still listen to his music without his personal problems influencing it much. What I don't get about Harry is that he proclaims all escapades in a RS article (why??) and actively and purposefully connects his music with the drugs. It's just not for me. But I've seen that everyone else seems to think he's still amazing, the story is funny and in fact all the little 1D girls seem to be especially taken and have tweeted that they want to do shrooms with him and whatnot. I'm old and fucking boring, I don't want to do shrooms with Harry. I just want to listen to good music, have a cup of tea and go to bed early. I'm too old for this shit.

Wings and Paul McCartney songs are my idea of an insomnia cure, similar to some of Niall's music, so if there are songs like that on the album, I'll be skipping. He should have stuck with The White Stripes and Interpol as influences.

I do think Mitch Rowland's taste has unfortunately nfluenced Harry. Mitch is a west coast hippy with the Status Quo hair, and he and Bhasker probably introduced Harry to shrooms and some of this 70s music.

I don't know if Harry is even aware that mushrooms are categorised as Class A drugs in the Uk, but if not, The Sun made sure he knew about it today by putting his 'drug binges' on the front page with the silly headline Fungirection. Harry probably thinks that because weed is legal in Cali, mushrooms must be too.

I'm not personally put off by the news that he uses drugs for inspiration, as I don't believe he does it every time he records, and the industry is littered with junkies writing paeans to Xanax and lean and cocaine.

In other news, Larries have committed to changing the wiki for Sweet Creature to read 'written for Louis Tomlinson' and have a rota for changing it every day until they run out of IPs. They also love this picture because GAY.

I am less sure than ever that he is lgbt after reading that interview. He probably experimented with guys but all his relationships have been with women.

Here's the pic the Larries love.

Louis also has a new single out imminently, called Kill My Mind. No doubt more swearing like Miss You.

[quote] Louis also has a new single out imminently, called Kill My Mind.

I think the killing of the mind happened quite a while ago. And if if hasn’t it will occur upon first listen.

r71 sad Joni Mitchell and McCartney mixture?

He WISHES he could write songs as good as Mitchell or McCartney.

[quote]I'm not personally put off by the news that he uses drugs for inspiration, as I don't believe he does it every time he records, and the industry is littered with junkies writing paeans to Xanax and lean and cocaine.

I don't know how else I should interpret him saying that psychedelics (which can be a lot more than just mushrooms, I mean.. he had a "commander quaalude" shirt) started to play a "key role" in his creative process. A key role implies that without them his creativity isn't the same, so it's definitely more than just inspiration and actually an integral part of his recording. That's why I hate it so much, it devalues his whole music for me. And I mean... I have no idea what he did for his first album, but we know he already wrote pretty good stuff when he was barely 19 and still in One Direction (Don't Let Me Go and the song he wrote for Ariana Grande) and I doubt he was full of psychedelics even back then. I really don't think it's necessary for him, he had so much potential and so much to bring to the table as singer and artist imho - without drugs.

I agree with you that he is probably influenced by people in his life that love their drugs as a way of life - maybe Mitch, maybe Camille, maybe the whole Gucci crew (their Memoire perfume ad was basically a tribute to druggy 60s/70s cults) and yeah, Jeff Bhasker totally seemed off his rocker in the Behind the Album documentary. How sad that he's influenced by them instead of his steadier, older friends. I might be wrong about that too, but guys like Cal Aurand, Rande Gerber or Ben Winston don't seem like the trippy mushroom type and I always liked that he had these "boring" friends. If it's also due to the influence of people, who have recently entered his life, it also explains why he seems rather different in his personality than during 1D or his first album & Dunkirk promo. I know he's also growing up and all, but still... the whole lonely Tokyo sojourn is something I can't imagine for 1D Harry.

I agree that way too many artists depend on some substance or another. I guess for me it's also hard, because I probably have a special dislike for psychedelics as they actually change your brain and personality in ways that persist even if you never take them again (which - as I wrote - might have happened for Harry). Also a lot of drugged up artists I listened to in my life were already a known mess, before I ever knew a single song of them, so I it was part and parcel of them. As Harry always seemed fairly sensible and focused on his craft, I kind of (wrongly) held him to a higher standard? I just didn't expect such regular (and to him essential) drug use. And I also felt a rather absurd protectiveness of this guy. I'm sure it plays a big part that I basically saw him growing up before my eyes (even though in my case it was a bit of a time lapse), from the boy with the cheeky grin, who said he works in a bakery to the handsome young man, who joked with his co-stars during Dunkirk promo. It makes me truly incredibly sad to compare him to how he came across in the RS interview, a nice, but out of touch guy, who lives very much in a 70s revival bubble of his own.

[quote]I am less sure than ever that he is lgbt after reading that interview. He probably experimented with guys but all his relationships have been with women.

Yes, that's my opinion as well. Maybe it was just experimenting during drug fuelled parties (like his song Medicine implies), maybe he's really somewhere on the bisexual spectrum, but he's certainly not gay and seems to have a romantic preference for women. It's interesting that he was talking so much about his ex-girlfriend in the RS piece and in the accompanying (very well shot) photos he looks like an extremely gay daydream. Let's be real, the oops pose was probably the gayest thing I've seen in a while and that says something. It somehow makes me think that he's this good natured easily influenced guy, not only about doing shrooms with cool musicians, but who is also happy to play the dressing doll for his gay stylists, designers and photographers, who are thrilled to dress this pretty boy to their heart's content.

R76 I'm actually a bit curious what it will sound like. The title seems to imply some rock/punk influenced music, but who knows. And oh my... have I been wrong about so many things recently. I honestly thought we'll have Harry's music pretty soon and Louis' music will be delayed as so often. And now Louis will release new songs and who knows when Harry's music videos will come out. I wish I could say I'm now as excited about Louis' music as I'm disappointed by Harry, but yeah, I'm not. I really like all the other 1D boys, even though some of them have done some dumb stuff after 1D (I'm looking at you Liam lol), but I just never fell in love with their music or was as charmed by them as by Harry.

R71 Both were cited as influences in the RS piece. I don't expect him to release anything that sounds like music of people, who are beloved legends for decades (Joni, Paul or others). And I don't think it's necessary to release legendary stuff, just plain old good music. But personally, I'm similar to R74, I'm more into The White Stripes' or Interpol's rock sound or some solid blues rock or 80s inspired (soft) rock. I thought he might go a bit into a Neil Young direction with 1-2 songs, but yeah.. didn't expect Joni Mitchell tbh. Sad dulcimer sex songs about Camille, that just doesn't sound very fun to listen to imho.

Medicine was greeted with joy because it had more of an indie rock sound, so many (including me) will be disappointed if HS2 is all fey Joni Mitchell type tunes. We know from the interview that there's one track which sounds like TRex's Cosmic Dancer.

I really like some of The 1975's music and got a bit excited when Matty tweeted Harry offering to produce some of his album, but that isn't happening. Mark Ronson is also rumoured to be involved.

I did like the photoshoot and I hope this means he's over his Elton John suit phase and will show more skin for his second era.

More skin? Ewwwww. He can keep his numerous ugly tattoos covered thank you.

i think Louis is aiming for something raucous, which he'll be unable to sing on stage with his quite thin, tinny vocals. Usually at his performances, his lead guitarist out sings him quite easily. It'd be hilarious if he brought something out like the 1975's recent single, People.

With that title I can totally imagine something more raucous than he's done before, but not quite like the 1975's People (that's a lot different than his previous music), which is fine by me, tbh, I'm not into People. But considering that I wasn't all that into Louis's previous singles either, I'm not the target group. Personally, I think I would prefer his music to be more like Sam Fender or something like that.

I think Louis's vocals will be fine with the right kind of music. He might not have had the strongest vocals in 1D, but I think he has an interesting voice, especially if it's in the right musical environment and if he works a bit on his vocal technique. If his lead guitarist is louder than him on stage then something went wrong with sound engineering (even amazing singers sometimes have this problem at live performances).

I just looked up Louis's co-writers for Kill My Mind - Jamie Hartman and Sean Douglas - and listening to other stuff they did, I now don't think his new single will be a huge deviation from his sound on Two of Us or Miss You, but who knows...

Harry looks like a toad.

Harry could play the young Jeremy Renner in a movie about trolls in their native habitat (caves).

R87/88, please go back to making racist comments on the BRF threads.

Sad that your fave Zayn has made only one public appearance in 2019 and there is no sign of Z3 ever happening. Even the paps have given up photographing him.

Louis just posted a spotify playlist with influences for his new single and he really has Sam Fender on it - just after I've written persoanlly I would prefer more of a Sam Fender sound! lol

Sam Fender reminds me a bit of Cold War Kids, so if Louis is reading this thread for more inspiration, there you go. ;)

(But Gimme Shelter by the Stones, wow... those are some BIG shoes, that's one of their best songs. In fact I hoped HS2 would go a bit into that direction considering Harry's love for Jagger, but alas... we get Joni Mitchell instead, ugh.)

I really liked Louis' playlist. Bittersweet Symphony by The Verve is one of my all time favourite songs. Unfortunately the rabidly politically correct segment of the 1d fandom is now attacking him for failing to include any women of people of colour in the playlist.

I would love to see Harry cover one of Louis' picks, This Charming Man by The Smiths. I think Harry could make a really good job of that.

In general, I hoped solo Harry would skew to the 80s/90s with his music, but it looks like we're doomed to more folky Wings type shit. Sweet Creature is my least favourite song by any of the boys, even worse than Liam's dire Strip That Down.

R92 Yes, he has many good songs on that inspiration playlist! The rabid PC fans are ... special, they also attacked Harry for not including enough POC musicians and women in his list, even though the list wasn't even his and I mean... Etta James, Joni Mitchell, Stevie Nicks, MUNA... come on.

And yes, I'd absolutely love a bit of 80s/90s stuff in Harry's music, but I'm super biased as this is my musical home turf. I basically grew up with 90s music and listened to a lot of 80s hard rock and post-rock in my teenage years. I didn't really expect him to sound like that, but I hoped for some bluesy stuff. He mentioned that he loves Chris Stapleton, who I think is amazing, and Jack White has done some lovely Blues rock as well, so it seemed like a possibility.

I actually love Sweet Creature, it's a lovely song imho, has a positive vibe and I think it's about his sister, which gives it a special meaning. I also love it when Harry and James sing it together in carpool karaoke. But yeah, I wouldn't like a whole album of it and if the new album is really all about sex and sadness (as seen through a mushroom filter), those songs will probably sound a lot more morose and less concise than the songs of his debut album. Psychedelic songs tend to be rather rambling in my experience, which can be nice it's music of quality (e.g. The End by The Doors or Planet Caravan by Black Sabbath or Child in Time by Deep Purple) and very boring if it's not. But tbh I'm not sure I want to hear a Planet Caravan by Harry Styles, even if it's amazing... Idk why, but for me such music is so connected to the 70s and the people, who made it. Adding Harry Styles to the mix just doesn't work for me, I think, no matter how many stupid tongue biting mushroom stories he tells.

Liam was papped out with his new girlfriend tonight. She is 19 year old heiress and model, Maya Henry.

Liam because of the butt pic.

R93, agree. He really needs to find his own sound and not drown in his admittedly impressive influences. Meet Me in the Hallway and Medicine are my favourite HS songs, and the former is about as trippy as he needs to get. But he is fortunate is having a substantial fanbase who will buy anything he puts out. He doesn't have to win anyone over, and quite a few of his fans are 40 plus and love the 60s and 70s.

R94 Oh, nice, Liam has a new girl! They look good together (and he seems to have a type: leggy brunettes), very stylish. I'm so glad his hip hop phase seems to be over.

R96 Yes, I agree, unless he has weirded out a substantial portion of his 1D fan base with his mushroom story (which still makes me wonder why he saw the need to tell it), I'm sure he'll be fine, no matter what the album sounds like.

Louis shot the music video for Kill My Mind yesterday and they had a contest for some fans to participate in the video shoot, which is a nice idea, but of course ended in the fans telling everyone on social media everything about the song and video shoot.

So here are the spoilers: Apparently Kill My Mind is a "banger", "catchy" and "indie poppish", "not sad" and the lyrics "aren't too deep" (this was said by two different people, not sure if that's such a great advertisement lol) and the crowd sang the song in the end. One fan said it's Louis's best song yet, so that's nice. The video allegedly is similar to Miss You live performances visuals and there were also dancers in addition to the fans. About Louis, who wore a black polo shirt with some logo and black jeans, the fans said he was smiley, tiny (lol), had soft hand (wtf?), apparently he drank vodka and smoked backstage, was quite busy filming and there was no interaction/meet&greet, he just thanked everyone in the end, high-fived a few people and said the fans were really good singers, when they sang the song in the end. (I can't help thinking it's good that this was Louis's video shoot and not Harry's, otherwise there would already be people out there claiming he's so "removed" and "aloof", if he doesn't cuddle every single fan.)

Leaked lines of the lyrics are:

You kill my mind, you bring my body back to life and I'm waiting for your reaction kiss me for the last time you're a nightmare on the dancefloor you kill my mind and I don't know what to do without you

Seems to be about a troubled relationship with a bit of a sexy touch. Hopefully that's not about Eleanor, I kind of hope he finally marries that chit and has 15 kids with her, just to see the faces of all the Larries and Louis fans, who are convinced he's a poor closeted gay.

(sorry, the formatting of the lyrics part got lost - anyway, you get the gist)

[QUOTE] , I kind of hope he finally marries that chit and has 15 kids with her, just to see the faces of all the Larries and Louis fans, who are convinced he's a poor closeted gay.

I hope this happens too! They've been together 6 years altogether and it's the only successful 1d relationship. There are still people on DL to this day who think Louis is gay, closeted by management and bearding. Same for Harry. He's only allowed to be 100% gay, no room for bisexuality.

Louis' video shoot sounds fun but I doubt the record will do very well in the charts. Miss You and TOU missed the US Hot 100 and didn't chart in the UK Top 40 either.

R100 Yes, I don't know much about Eleanor, but afaik in all the years she - even during the split - she has never drawn any negative attention to herself and she has to love Louis if she stayed through all the craziness. When they got together again after Louis's mum's death, I was afraid it might be one of those emotional crisis things, that don't last long, but it has been 2.5 years since then. If they are the marrying kind, I can totally see an engagement next year. However considering how many of his fans seem to be convinced he's a closeted gay (no matter if they are Larries or not), I guess he might want to wait with that until after his debut album came out and sold.

DL is basically famous for thinking everyone is gay, but lately the 1D threads are so much more reasonable here than what some people spout on tumblr or stan twitter.

I think the fact that Kill My Mind will be released on a Thursday makes it harder to chart, but I've read it's better for iTunes charts, because there's less competition? If so, his label apparently want to go for iTunes and streaming numbers, which I think might be a good bet, considering that Louis has a very loyal fan base. I didn't know that MY and TOU didn't chart in the UK top 40, just that a lot of fans complained his singles weren't played on the radio? I guess promo for those singles wasn't perfect either, otherwise they would have charted due to his 1D fame alone. Not sure who is responsible for that (Syco, I guess?) and what's up with Louis and his label.

KMM stood an excellent chance of topping the itunes chart, as TOU did, until Camila Cabello announced today that she was also releasing on Sept 5th, but KMM can still go to #2.

Louis' first play of KMM is during a 2 hr interview slot on a late night indie show on Radio 1, which I think could be a nice fit for him. I've thought from the start that he should go in an indie direction.

Agree that these threads are far more reasonable than at any time in the past. The resident Larrie hasn't stopped by for ages, the Niall hater has gone, and the Harry hater only leaves the occasional insult.

R102 Camila Cabello? Damn. Isn't she with Syco as well? Wow.... why would they do that? This really makes Louis' relationship with the label look difficult. And I'm sure some of the loony Louis fans will find a way to claim this is Harry's team sabotaging Louis' career, even though Harry doesn't even have a release date for anything and is not connected to Camila in any way. Also not to Syco (except that both Columbia and Syco are with Sony).

Indie show on Radio 1 sounds really good for KMM. I mean, I think it's not that easy to find a good balance between pop (and his 1D fans) and indie (= some of the more grown up 1D fans and maybe new fans) as sometimes the indie crowd is a bit snobbish, but it certainly makes sense to try and appeal to a wider audience through an indie show. And I think it helps that Louis is always pretty low-key and down to earth, not your typical pop star.

This is funny - although the blog is that of the ugly crazy dolly lady Larrie, Amy.

I think Harry could have won over the Indie crowd if he'd stayed with his 2014 image. He looked skinny and cool and beautiful in his black jeans and vintage band name T shirts and shoulder length hair (before it got really long in 2015). But the 7k Elton John suits aren't indie at all, and nor is his band with the two women singing harmonies and the 70s guitars.

I wish Harry would be influenced by this band instead of Joni Mitchell and Stiller and Nash and Wings.

Niall is past his best though.

R105 Yes, I think so too. 2014/2015 Harry (I also loved his longer hair and the barely buttoned shirts) was effortlessly cool. He wasn't only cute and charming, he had already developed an interesting edge imho and his style was on point. There were many possibilities for him after 1D split - he could have continued with a mainstream pop-rock sound and made a gazillion $$. Just imagine, the (arguably) most popular 1D member making 1D fan friendly music after the guys went separate ways. The media already loved him and the critics would have come round. He might even have gotten a Grammy nom like Selena Gomez or Justin Bieber, especially because the late 1D sound was already more mature than their teeny music sound.

He could also have gone the full indie route and followed 100 % into the musical footsteps of Interpol, Arctic Monkeys, Jack White's many projects, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Kings of Leon (who are personal friends of Harry) and many more. I think most people actually expected him to do that and his style would have been on point for it. He could have been the biggest indie act of his generation and yes, I'd probably loved that.

However I really think that just wasn't his preference. There's no denying that there are indie influences on his debut album, but it's just one influence among others, many of them being 70s music. I know some people (who might have hoped he'd gone for the other musical options after 1D) think his image, style and music are carefully crafted and "fake", that his route was chosen for him by his management or other people and he refers to all these oldie influences and music legends only to name drop and give him credibility. But I honestly believe he just loves this stuff, he truly is this little music geek, who adores the rock and pop hits of the 60s/70s/80s (including the whacky fashion). And yes, reading all about Rob Sheffield's and Harry's hard on for this was a bit tedious in the RS article imho, because I'm not such a geek, but I don't think he fakes it. I mean, even back in 2013, when he was a still tweeting boy of 19 and wearing flannel shirts and snapbacks, he already tweeted lyrics by Van Morrison, Joni Mitchell, the Stones, the Beach Boys, Grateful Dead, James Taylor and a whole bunch of other acts I don't even know. In the RS article he mentions that he grew up in a pub for a time (his mum's second husband owned a pub) and I can totally see little Harry, being the cheeky, precocious child he probably was, hanging with the middle-aged regulars nursing their pints of beer and talking with them about the music favourites of their youth.

So I think in hindsight it's not at all surprising that he took the route he took after 1D and seems to take further with his second album, it's just his thing. It's actually a very genuine decision, which I respect, considering that he very likely would have had it easier and be commercially even more successful with either of the other options. And I mean, I really loved his debut album and while I'm on the fence about the second album after all this Joni Mitchell dulcimer and Wings talk and the rest of the 70s geekery, it might turn out just fine. Despite the idiotic and unnecessary mushroom antics, which are not only stupid (both in doing and in telling RS all about it), but unfortunately also somewhat lessen the genuine quality of his music to me. Yeah, I will not stop dragging him for this lol. But we will see...

[QUOTE] He could have been the biggest indie act of his generation and yes, I'd probably loved that.

This would have been my dream, and he even took a White Stripes album along to play to Bhasker to show him the kind of music he hoped to make, but only Kiwi ended up like the White Stripes.

I do wonder how much Irving Azoff influenced Harry. Irving already knew Fleetwood and the Eagles would be touring, and who better than Harry Styles to persuade the under 30s to give them a listen and renew interest?

I don't love 70s music but I do love Harry Styles, so I am here for whatever he serves up on HS2, mushrooms or no. Louis doesn't have the fan support or stage presence or vocals Harry has, but he could still probably sell out somewhere like the Troubadour or The Garage.

Do you think Zayn has given up on a career? He's made one appearance all year.

R109 I don't think Irving Azoff influenced Harry in his music preferences. Those tweets from Harry quoting all those 70s artists were either from before he even met the Azoffs or during the very beginnings. I think it's way more likely that his music taste was influenced by his parents (especially his dad seems to be a fan of 70s music) and his mum's husbands. Both Fleetwood Mac and the Eagles aren't exactly obscure acts nobody listened to back then - they were everywhere and had (still have) a huge fan base. Niall always said he loved both bands as well and cites them as influences and he has nothing to do with the Azoffs. I'm also not sure either the Eagles or Fleetwood Mac actually need the under 30s interest, I guess they can still sell out stadiums with the "dad crowd".

I like some 60s/70s music, but I don't live for it, like Harry apparently does lol. Still, I was listening Van Morrison's Tupelo Honey while I was writing my post, that's just a great song imho, and yesterday I had a Black Sabbath's Paranoid album day. However I'd rather go naked than wear bell bottoms, they are atrocious.

The good thing about Harry (so far) is that whatever influences his music, I still think it sounds fairly contemporary. People might hear some Pink Floyd or Bowie in the songs, but to me it's not like you totally travelled back in time, it's all still very listenable nowadays, cowbell or not. And like you said - his voice is just really good and distinctive and he has the personality (and the dimpled smile) to sell it.

I'd pay good money to know what's up with Louis's career. He might not have Harry's (or Zayn's) potential, but as a former member of 1D he comes with a passionate and loyal fan base and I guess there's some behind the scenes stuff going on that delayed his album and proper career plan so far. I mean, even the roll out for his new single isn't ideal. So yeah, would love to know what goes on behind closed doors (because I'm pretty sure it's not what some Louis conspiracy theorist fans dreamed up).

I think Zayn isn't very interested in having a career these days. There are always rumours about his alleged drug problems, others say it's just anxiety that keeps him from the stage. He was frighteningly thin at times, which certainly looked like substance problems, but it's been 5 years since the drug rumours first came up and he's still around and not in some rehab programme (as far as we know), so I hope that apart from smoking weed he's fine and happy on his farm in Pennsylvania. On the other hand you'd think if he just can't deal with crowds and TV appearances he might at least interact with fans through social media and maybe pre-record stuff for TV and radio, but that doesn't happen either. He's mostly gone radio silent, so maybe he is just done with the spotlight in general.

I totally agree that Harry's love for 60s and 70s music is genuine and as you say R108 he has been tweeting lyrics from songs from those eras and proclaiming his love for Elvis, Queen etc from the beginning. I am however a bit sick of hearing about it in every interview and I'm completely over any story which includes the words Fleetwood Mac or Stevie Nicks. At this point its as though he's a memebr of the band.

HOWEVER, what I am not buying ( and I've been following him since XFactor days) is the very carefully crafted 'Harry Styles' persona/brand whatever you want to call it, to the extent where I'm really not sure what's truth and whats fabrication any more. There were some interesting articles on this during his HS1 marketing, although of course anyone who dares criticise him faces the wrath/abuse of a million hardcore fans.. But again this time around we have a few brave journo souls on twitter whose comments I by and large agree with re the RS interview.Firstly a journo who writes for the Guardian and Sunsday Times basically says that we're not getting to see his real personality anymore and that the only glimpse in that interview is when he says the‘bull riding and boobies’ line from Old Town Road is ‘potentially the greatest lyric in any song ever’ . She says that in the past he has said deliberately provocative and purile things which is part of his charm and sits well with his love of old school rock and roll but we don't get to see that anymore. The Guardian's music editor agrees with her and calls the interview a ' beautifully spun confection' and in reply journo 1 says 'Because whenever it is punctured, it’s always so he can proclaim the most puerile stuff! And that’s fine but...telling' ie that he's replies are being too carefully curated to make sure we see little of this 'puerile stuff'. Another journo replies 'It’s such a cliché! Living in an L.A. bubble. His sexual ambiguity, reading Murakami, quoting cool songs and albums yet still saying bull rides and boobies is the best lyric ever. Shouldn’t have been done by a fan as it’s a bit too gushy, no tricky questions'.

This article was promoted again by the music editor of the Guardian https://tinyletter.com/betterthanwords/letters/better-than-words-15-in-profile

I also agree with these 2 articles (if you ignore the Larry reference in the Metro article):

I totally agree that Harry's love for 60s and 70s music is genuine and as you say R108 he has been tweeting lyrics from songs from those eras and proclaiming his love for Elvis, Queen etc from the beginning. I am however a bit sick of hearing about it in every interview and I'm completely over any story which includes the words Fleetwood Mac or Stevie Nicks. At this point its as though he's a memebr of the band.

HOWEVER, what I am not buying ( and I've been following him since XFactor days) is the very carefully crafted 'Harry Styles' persona/brand whatever you want to call it, to the extent where I'm really not sure what's truth and whats fabrication any more. There were some interesting articles on this during his HS1 marketing, although of course anyone who dares criticise him faces the wrath/abuse of a million hardcore fans.. But again this time around we have a few brave journo souls on twitter whose comments I by and large agree with re the RS interview.Firstly a journo who writes for the Guardian and Sunsday Times basically says that we're not getting to see his real personality anymore and that the only glimpse in that interview is when he says the‘bull riding and boobies’ line from Old Town Road is ‘potentially the greatest lyric in any song ever’ . She says that in the past he has said deliberately provocative and purile things which is part of his charm and sits well with his love of old school rock and roll but we don't get to see that anymore. The Guardian's music editor agrees with her and calls the interview a ' beautifully spun confection' and in reply journo 1 says 'Because whenever it is punctured, it’s always so he can proclaim the most puerile stuff! And that’s fine but...telling' ie that he's replies are being too carefully curated to make sure we see little of this 'puerile stuff'. Another journo replies 'It’s such a cliché! Living in an L.A. bubble. His sexual ambiguity, reading Murakami, quoting cool songs and albums yet still saying bull rides and boobies is the best lyric ever. Shouldn’t have been done by a fan as it’s a bit too gushy, no tricky questions'.

This article was promoted again by the music editor of the Guardian https://tinyletter.com/betterthanwords/letters/better-than-words-15-in-profile

I also agree with these 2 articles (if you ignore the Larry reference in the Metro article):

I totally agree that Harry's love for 60s and 70s music is genuine and as you say R108 he has been tweeting lyrics from songs from those eras and proclaiming his love for Elvis, Queen etc from the beginning. I am however a bit sick of hearing about it in every interview and I'm completely over any story which includes the words Fleetwood Mac or Stevie Nicks. At this point its as though he's a memebr of the band.

HOWEVER, what I am not buying ( and I've been following him since XFactor days) is the very carefully crafted 'Harry Styles' persona/brand whatever you want to call it, to the extent where I'm really not sure what's truth and whats fabrication any more. There were some interesting articles on this during his HS1 marketing, although of course anyone who dares criticise him faces the wrath/abuse of a million hardcore fans.. But again this time around we have a few brave journo souls on twitter whose comments I by and large agree with re the RS interview.Firstly a journo who writes for the Guardian and Sunsday Times basically says that we're not getting to see his real personality anymore and that the only glimpse in that interview is when he says the‘bull riding and boobies’ line from Old Town Road is ‘potentially the greatest lyric in any song ever’ . She says that in the past he has said deliberately provocative and purile things which is part of his charm and sits well with his love of old school rock and roll but we don't get to see that anymore. The Guardian's music editor agrees with her and calls the interview a ' beautifully spun confection' and in reply journo 1 says 'Because whenever it is punctured, it’s always so he can proclaim the most puerile stuff! And that’s fine but...telling' ie that he's replies are being too carefully curated to make sure we see little of this 'puerile stuff'. Another journo replies 'It’s such a cliché! Living in an L.A. bubble. His sexual ambiguity, reading Murakami, quoting cool songs and albums yet still saying bull rides and boobies is the best lyric ever. Shouldn’t have been done by a fan as it’s a bit too gushy, no tricky questions'.

This article was promoted again by the music editor of the Guardian https://tinyletter.com/betterthanwords/letters/better-than-words-15-in-profile

I also agree with these 2 articles (if you ignore the Larry reference in the Metro article):

APOLOGIES for posting that 3 times. Not sure what happened. I was trying to add links. Also it turns out you can't delete , but it was essentially a good post so worth reading 3 times. Anyway the link that didn't come out was this :

He is getting older, so perhaps less likely to say 'puerile' things? I wish he would speak a bit more specifically about his writing and recording process instead of discussing his vinyl collection.

Harry's new haircut is a radical change. I really don't like that heavier facial hair on him though. It's too uneven along the jaw and looks ratty.

The facial hair is fine to me, he looks great with the snapback. The non-facial hair on the other hand... lmao, I can't... it's bad.

R113 I think the problem with the RS profile is mostly the problem of such profiles in general and especially RS (and Rob). Because, yes, it did appear somewhat aloof and carefully constructed, but we have to keep in mind that those RS writers treat this like a story and not an interview. They want to create a certain atmosphere, a backsplash for their talks, they want to show off how interesting and quirky not only their subject, but also they as writers are. And in this process they create something, that might be and come across as rather.. artificial. More like a piece of fiction than a normal interview. For example, let's take the 2017 RS profile: I don't really buy that some random guy on the street told Harry he looks like River Phoenix lol (even though he does indeed a bit), but it worked in the context of the story - it reinforced the narrative of the sensitive, deep thinking teen idol, who is confronted with the shallowness of fame. It showed how potentially tragic this could be and how sane Harry managed to stay. So yes, it's very much constructed, but by the writer, not Harry, who seemed pretty normal during his album's and especially Dunkirk promo imho. Definitely more mature and calmer, but he wasn't a teenager anymore, so that's natural, I guess. Also more reserved, which is also a natural reaction to the very intrusive days of 1D. Personally I don't have a problem if a musician doesn't want to overshare. I also think he's sometimes a bit shy in solo interviews. But especially when he interacts with others, like during Dunkirk promo, he was quite funny and personable. And I don't see how he was carefully constructed in carpool karaoke or when he played bingo with Nick and the old ladies.

Now I think we have the problem that we haven't seen him talking on screen in nearly two years, but are confronted (again) with a flowery piece of RS prose, this time even worse, because it's written by Rob, who is a personal friend/fan, fellow music geek and very prone to hyperbole in writing. He has always portrayed Harry in ways that had me rolling my eyes a bit. Back in 1D days he compared him to Paul McCartney and wrote such a weird piece of purple prose about Louis and Harry, that I still can't believe RS published this:

[quote]Harry and Louis are the Stevie and Lindsey of the mermaid-tattoo-era stadium-rock eye-contact game. Louis’ eyes are dark, intense, controlling, with a surly “damn your love, damn your life” edge. Harry’s eyes say “I hear the darkness you’re expressing and it’s important to me but my heart tells me to twirl right now,” so he twirls and touches his hair. The brooding look vs. the beatific twirl. When one of them gets happy, the other gets wistful. When one of them gets bitchy, the other gets sugary. I could watch them sing together for hours. I could probably watch them do laundry for hours. (I doubt they do laundry.)

I mean... lol. So yes, I do have my problems with the RS profile, a lot in fact. I have never made a secret of my disdain for the shroom antics, they get too lost in their 70s music god idolatry, Harry's quirkiness comes across as somewhat aloof and eccentric (his weird fashion sense doesn't help with that one bit) and I'm not fond of Rob's hyperbole. I also wasn't too impressed with what was said about the upcoming album, both musically, but also "sex and being sad" is a bit.. thin and personally I don't get much out of knowing all of Harry's heartbreak stories (and I'm saying this as someone, who actually low-key likes Camille). However for all my eye-rolling about the RS profile and how Harry comes across, I'm not sure it's the result of Harry or his management constructing or cultivating a certain image, it seems more like it's what RS wanted to portray.

I'm very curious how Harry will seem to me, when I see his first screen interview in this era, if and how he changed during his absence from the spotlight. It's been quite some time, after all.

R114 I have my problems with this blog post. Might be just me, but it seems like it was written by a tumblr girl, who has enough brains to write a dissertation, but is still a tumblr girl. It's a bit exhausting to me and reflects upon things that aren't such a big issue for me. For example I think the comparisons to Taylor's profile are a bit useless, because they are both such different artists, with different careers and the profiles were written by different writers in very different publications. It feels so force to me that people want to make this about gender and society and whatnot. I also don't care about the magnifying glass everyone puts on celebrities and the causes they might or might not champion. It turns into a circlejerk of who is the most woke so fast. If people want to speak up about something, great. But people start to expect everyone speaking up about basically everything, which isn't feasible. And everything is problematic. We see it with Harry, where people always say his support is too little, too late, no matter what he does. His playlist doesn't contain enough women, not enough POC. He's not a true feminist because he sleeps with models. If he sleeps with women, it also makes his support for the LGBT community problematic for some reason. He wasn't fast/good enough at acknowledging a cause, even though he has a sticker on his guitar and speaks about it in his RS profile, because it "doesn’t address the year-long, international effort by fans trying to get him to speak up about BLM on stage." Really? This guy can't win. It ends with his biggest update account trying to force him to speak up about other causes they like under the guise of "educating" him and I'm tired of it. It has nothing to do with the causes itself and all with the fact that I think a celebrity isn't the fans personal mouthpiece. He isn't a human speaking corner.

R115 I was hoping against hope we might get another Behind the Album, where he shows more of the writing process, but considering that they were all tripping during recording, I guess not.

I doubt very much that Jeff Azoff told Harry to confess to doing lots of mushrooms and biting off his tongue. The optics aren't great especially with a young, (often far too easily) triggered fanbase. Harry went rogue and did it anyway.

I'm of the opinion that Harry picked Jeff to manage him because he knew he wouldn't control him and try to cajole him into social media engagement or talking about his relationships, but so many see Jeff as some kind of evil maniac who has ruined the cupcake Harry image.

Someone should send this Harry. Not so much for the "never done anything" stuff (who knows if that's true), but for what he says in connection with writing his music. No matter what Jack has or hasn't done, I think he has a very valid point here. And I think there's no denying that Jack is one of the most creative musicians of his generation. A bit (or a lot) weird too and doing his own thing, you'd think that would appeal to Harry.

Harry went over better when he said he liked to wake up with a clear head, but Louis is about to eclipse all this by releasing Kill My Mind, about his opiates/benzos addiction.

R123 Do you think it will be about addiction? From the leaked lyrics so far it seemed like a "troubled love" song, like being sexually attracted to someone, who isn't good for you. But I mean, the love/drug song is a well known trope, from tons of rock songs to the the Weeknd. Harry's Medicine (and Caroline) and Zayn's Sour Diesel are in that vein as well.

I guess all the former 1D guys have experiences with drugs, they were a bunch of young millionaires under immense pressure, with an insane schedule that left them trapped in hotel rooms for most of the time. So what should happen. In fact I think they all turned out fairly well for that (giving Zayn the benefit of doubt), we didn't see any major scandals so far.

Louis sings about 'a devil in my brain' and wanting to 'kill my mind' so it could be about battling drug addiction. I don't think he'd call Eleanor a devil.

R125 I agree, he'd hardly call Eleanor a devil lol. But if it's a song about a relationship it might be more... fictional (personally I don't have a problem with songs, that aren't written from recent personal experience, I think they can still be very authentic, even if they are inspired by films or books or something from longer ago). His "Back to You" is also about a relationship, but he clarefied it's not about Eleanor:

[quote]"The relationship with Eleanor is coincidental. But the relationship in the song is intense. Maybe they're not right for each other. I wouldn't describe Eleanor as that. She's ace."

Of course this prompted the Larries to think "Back to You" is about Harry lol. Those people... I actually feel bad for Louis, when it comes to fans, it seems after 1D a lot of nutters stayed in his fandom. There are crazies among all of the solo fans, but just from reading comments it seems that large parts of Louis's fans are either Larries or conspiracy tinhats, that think he's not with Harry, but still gay, Eleanor is a fake relationship and Freddie not his son. They also think Louis's label sabotages him and tries to destroy his career (!) in order to make Harry the star. Those people make even some Larries look sane-ish, because ... why would a record label actively try to destroy the career of one of their artists unless there's a feud going on? Louis, like all other 1D members, is a potential cash cow for them, because the 1D fans have proven themselves to be loyal and fervent. Labels also try to have as many stars as possible, so even if Harry is someone they want to build up, there's no reason to not build up Louis as well. There also a ton of other, even bigger stars than Harry with Sony, so it's completely nuts to make this about Harry. They are as fixated on the Harry/Louis relationship as Larries, it's like nobody else exists in the world, just with rivalry instead of romance.

And because so many Louis fans are convinced that his label and management try to destroy his career for some reason, they have taken it upon themselves to "promote" him, which is... slightly weird to me. They create little homemade promo packages with candy and flyers to send out to radio stations in order to beg them to play Louis's songs. They also tweet these stations. tToday I read someone tweet along the lines that the radion stations should pretty please please play Louis's song, because his management is shit and he needs the promo. Maybe I'm old, but this sort of begging makes me so embarrassed for Louis, especially when the radion station tweeted back that there's a whole promo plan for Louis's single waiting.

They act like Louis is a small, completely unknown indie act from their hometown, who tries to make it in the industry and deperately needs their help. But Louis is an international pop star with a 50 million dollar bank account. He can afford professional people, who lead his promo campaigns, he is the one, who made his contracts with both label and management and he has the money and connections to afford the best of lawyers if something is going wrong. Maybe there are problems with the label, maybe not. But in any way the fans going around and begging people to give poor Louis a chance makes him look worse (like his failing) and kind of destroys the impact of his actual promo plans imho.

Really strange that Louis seems to attract these type of people, I feel the other boys have gotten the better deal with the former 1D fans. Niall's fans seem rather laid back most of the time, just enjoying themselves, Liam's fans seem more casual (not as bound to him as a person, but they like him & his looks and listen to his singles) and Harry's core fans are basically a cult in their fervent loyalty and trust that whatever he does is amazing. He has the additional advantage that a suprising amount of media and industry people have joined the cult.

South by Southwest

R125 I just read the leaked lyrics again and actually the addiction thing makes a lot of sense, it's quite likely that Kill My Mind does indeed use the romance/drug metaphor (like Harry's Medicine).

QUOTE ['Of course this prompted the Larries to think "Back to You" is about Harry lol'.]

I think BTY might be about Danielle. It was written when he was dating her, plus she is an actress, so fits the drama queen character Louis sings about, and he did live in LA and go out a lot then ('Hollywood friends, got to see them'.)

Agree that the care packages the Louies send to radio shows make them look childish and desperate. If the station hasn't been sent the record by the label, they won't play it, regardless of how many Yorkshire tea bags and M and Ms they receive, labelled 'from the Louies' (a name they are inordinately proud of, for some reason), although Louis has never acknowledged it.

The Larries simultaneously claim that Louis is being aggressively closeted so Sony can profit from his het image AND that Sony are intent on destroying his solo career so Harry looks better. It can't be both?

[QUOTE] Just read the leaked lyrics again and actually the addiction thing makes a lot of sense, it's quite likely that Kill My Mind does indeed use the romance/drug metaphor (like Harry's Medicine).

The well worn trope of a woman as a Class A does seem to be there - 'she's a nightmare on the dancefloor'. I wonder which drug it's about? Maybe coke or ecstasy.

[QUOTE] But in any way the fans going around and begging people to give poor Louis a chance makes him look worse (like his failing) and kind of destroys the impact of his actual promo plans imho

I agree with this. It is embarrassing! They scream 'sabotage' because Louis isn't on Live Lounge, the Radio 1 Breakfast Show or SNL or the cover of the Rolling Stone, but this was never going to happen.

Louis was paid the same as the others in the band but it was clear to everyone who followed 1d (including label bosses) that he was nowhere near as talented as Harry, Zayn or Liam.

R130 Yes, some kind of upper, not just the blunt that was in his last studio photo. I'm leaning more towards pills than coke, tbh, "nightmare on the dancefloor" sounds more like MDMA or something like that. To me it's way more connected to dancing than coke. On the other hand we know that Louis has experience with "chicken" (at least in Chile).

R131 I agree, Harry, Zayn and Liam were the best singers of 1D. But I'd still argue that they all had a very good start position, because being the best singer out there isn't always the most important thing to get noticed by label bosses. It's probably more important to be recognisable, have an interesting personality, the little "something" and to develop good connections within the music industry. And they all had the chance for that in equal measures, depending on their natural star potential.

And personally I think Harry had it all and was clever enough to work on that from the very beginning. He seems to have a natural talent for making people like him and part of that is tons of natural charm, but another part is that he's nice to people and notices them. He builds a rapport with them, for example even way back in X-Factor with Simon Cowell. And apparently Caroline Flack lol. All the journalists have always remarked how nice he is, that he greets everyone, asks them if they want water, remembers their name etc. Harry is the guy, who actually gave his food to an annoying paparazzi, because he was hungry.

I think Harry building that rapport with his audience was also why he was always the best during stage performances. He knew how to move and really enjoy himself, but he also forged a connection with the people in the audience, made eye-contact, reacted to them, knew how to talk to them.

So I'd say even apart from his great voice and singing ability (which also improved a lot during 1D), he worked for it and made all the right decisions, both in front of the cameras/audience and behind the scenes, and that's why he was able to do Live Lounge, SNL and Rolling Stone after 1D.

Agree, R133. Louis looks quite awkward on stage on his own, wandering round with his hand on his chest.

Louis posted a snipped of his song today that people had to piece together and... I kind of like it? I'm quite surprised, I didn't like any of Louis' solo music before and it's still quite radio friendly, but it's catchy and yes, a bit of a mixture of 90s influences and Sam Fender. I think this music style fits him and his voice very well, he should continue that.

Harry is on the cover of The Face (the first issue of the the relaunch). Together with the Rolling Stone cover this make two September covers of iconic magazines - he's working it. I also fully expect the cover story to be again full of artsy magazine writer hyperbole lol, the snippets are already something else, but what can you do. At least he's hot in the photos.

Here's another photo, it seems bare chested is his new favourite look. Can't complain.

'I'm completely over any story which includes the words Fleetwood Mac or Stevie Nicks. At this point its as though he's a memebr of the band.'...is what I said a few posts ago and here we are The Face interview apparently includes a 'tribute' from Stevie Nicks. Even his most ardent fans must be bored of it surely. Am also still wondering since it seems as though everything has been planned for a build up to a September single/album release how he was ever going to manage to fit in the filming of the Elvis movie in October, if he had got the part.

This is Alessandro Michelle's tribute to Harry in the Face interview: '“He was as attractive as James Dean and as persuasive as Greta Garbo, he was like a Luchino Visconti character, like an Apollo; at the same time sexy as a woman, as a kid, as a man, of course, Harry is not aware of this.” I mean........

Not keen on the new short haircut, but I do admire the way he manages to look different in every single shoot, unlike Louis who has the exact same expression in 80% of his HQs and all of his selfies.

The new song sounds okay, bit of a rip off with the Wonderwall type lyrics though.

Oh, Alessandro, what a fucking idiot.

I really don't like how these magazines go about doing these profiles, it's always the same. The treat the profiled person like they are the second coming of Christ so it comes across like way too much, have a bunch of "good quotes" from the artist, get other famous people to talk about them and then stitch it all with some flowery "atmosphere". This isn't even Harry's fault or his management's, these kind of things are ALWAYS like that, it's annoying.

R138 I don't mind Stevie Nicks (she gave us the NSYNC quote after all lmao), but I was expecting her to pop up again. Like I said, every magazine does the same, and Harry only has a limited amount of famous, quotable music/fashion friends and aquaintances for such profiles.

This is one of the best pics ever taken of Harry. Stunning.

Broad, toned torso.

R142 It's one of the best photo shoots he's ever done, he looks amazing. And I thought his RS photo shoot was already very good (especially the profile shot and the one just with the shorts that wasn't in the print magazine). I also like the photo, where he pushes his hair up although it will invite people to say bs about his hairline. But it reminds me of his man bun days - very cute and he hasn't changed much.

If his upcoming album is half as good as these photos, wow.

R140 There is a melody in the Kill My Mind snippet, when he sings "and I don't know" that reminds me SO MUCH of another song. And it drives me absolutely crazy that I can't remember which song! Does anyone know?? (The other song continues differently after "and I don't know", it goes down again when KMM goes up at the end.)

Those lines remind me of Oasis' Wonderwall where he sings 'I don't think anybody feels the way I do about you now'.

And we know Louis is obsessed with Liam Gallagher and often mentions him.