Harry Styles Moves Smoothly Into His Next Era With the Intimate ‘Harry’s House’: Album Review

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorPrince’s musical career had many peaks, but he was most on top of the world — literally — on March 30, 1985, when he and the Revolution played a concert at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, New York that was broadcast all over the planet in the first global telecast of its kind.Even with the “Purple Rain” album, film and tour at the peak of their Oscar, Grammy and chart popularity, and the 100-date tour in support of both nearing its end, Prince was never one to stay in the same place for long. By that date, he and the Revolution had completed their next album, “Around the World in a Day,” and were already working on the next one (“Parade”), and would embark for the South of France to shoot their next feature film, “Under the Cherry Moon,” within a few weeks.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAs part of the celebration around the late Lou Reed’s 80 th birthday, an album of his earliest demos — comprising a number of Velvet Underground classics recorded in 1965, along with several songs dating back to his college and teen years — will be released August 26 on Light in the Attic Records in partnership with Reed’s longtime partner Laurie Anderson.The album, titled “Words & Music, May 1965,” is the inaugural release from the Lou Reed Archive Series, and dovetails with the opening Thursday of an extensive Reed exhibit at the New York Public Library, titled “Lou Reed: Caught Between the Twisted Stars.” The album includes the earliest known recordings of such classics as “Heroin,” “Pale Blue Eyes,” “Iʼm Waiting for the Man” and several unreleased tracks. See the full tracklist below; listen to Reed’s 1965 demo of “I’m Waiting for the Man”:The bulk of the album is comprised of the 1965 tracks, which were recorded with the assistance of Reed’s future bandmate John Cale.

Despite strong competition from Liam Gallagher, Harry Styles has earned a second week at Number 1 on the Official Irish Albums Chart with Harry’s House, as it flies ahead on streaming services.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAngel Olsen’s new album, “Big Time,” is the kind of rare, generation-spanning album that you could give to your sister, your aunt or your grandparents. Its 10 soulful, country-inflected songs recall everything from Dusty Springfield’s 1969 masterpiece, “Dusty in Memphis,” to Shelby Lynne’s 2001 Grammy-winning “I am Shelby Lynne,” from Tammy Wynette to Lucinda Williams — and at the center of it all are Olsen’s soaring songs and crystalline, versatile voice.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorToro y Moi, a.k.a Chaz Bear, has officially released “Goes By So Fast: A Mahal Film,” a short film starring Eric André and Chaz that, according to the announcement, “brings the world of Toro y Moi’s seventh studio album, ‘Mahal,’ to life.” The film was in partnership with Dropbox and directed by long-time Toro y Moi collaborator Harry Israelson, written by Sidney Schleiff and Israelson and produced by Ways & Means.Watch the film below.Israelson says, “Having worked with Chaz for over a decade, there’s been this natural evolution of our storytelling; with ‘Mahal,’ from day one we discussed a companion film. To me, the idea was to create a world around the record, so listeners could stick their head inside the album cover itself and have a look around.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorTo those who know, Patti Smith, pioneering punk poetess and rock star without peer or precedent, requires no introduction. But times change, generations succeed generations, and sometimes the world needs to be reminded of things like “Why Patti Smith Matters,” which is exactly the book that veteran music journalist Caryn Rose published yesterday via University of Texas Press. Rose, whose work has appeared in Pitchfork, Salon, the Village Voice, Vulture, Backstreets, the Guardian and Variety, explains, “I was eager to take on the formidable task of chronicling Patti Smith’s career because aside from Smith’s own work, the existing scholarship didn’t possess the kind of informed, careful perspective of her life and art that it deserves.” The book combines original research and primary sources — one of whom is Bruce Springsteen, who gave Rose an exclusive interview on the making of their 1978 hit song, “Because the Night.” A section of the book focusing on the song appears below.

Harry Styles scores his second UK Number 1 album with Harry’s House. 

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorPresident Joe Biden will welcome superstar South Korean group BTS to the White House on Tuesday to “discuss Asian inclusion and representation” and to “address anti-Asian hate crimes and discrimination,” according to an announcement from the White House released Thursday.Biden and the group “will also discuss the importance of diversity and inclusion and BTS’ platform as youth ambassadors who spread a message of hope and positivity across the world,” the statement continues.The visit by BTS will take place on May 31, the final day of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.As noted by Politico, the president has been active during the month. He issued a presidential proclamation on April 29 about AANHPI Heritage Month, and he and Vice President Kamala Harris — who is half Filipino — hosted a White House reception earlier in the month that included U.S.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorSinger Elissa, soprano Hiba Tawaji, composer Oussama Rahbani, trumpetist Ibrahim Maalouf and more than 50 musicians performed at the “Night of Hope” at Lebanon’s Forum de Beirut on Sunday night in the largest concert to be held in the country’s capital since the devastating explosion in August of 2020 that killed more than 200 people, left an estimated 300,000 homeless and caused more than $15 billion in damage. The Forum de Beirut was also destroyed by the blast, but has been rebuilt.The concert paid tribute to the families of the explosion’s victims in a brief video, and patriotic songs were performed as part of a broader call to unite the country, which has seen its economy devasted in recent years.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorFormer Lady Gaga manager and Spotify exec Troy Carter and fellow Q&A co-founder Suzy Ryoo have announced the Venice Music Collective, an independent membership music community for creators powered by Web3. Launching this month, the collective is a place “where members are given access, opportunities and the ability to achieve greater wealth as an independent,” according to the announcement, which adds that “The goal is to empower and support independent artists and their careers in a more equitable way that currently exists.”Membership provides access to industry contacts: distribution, sync, analytics, financial services, events, workspaces, and more, according to the announcement.

Harry Styles has the Number 1 Trending Song in the UK right now, as Late Night Talking debuts atop the Official Trending Chart.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorLive Nation has announced ”Live Nation Next Gen”, a new career development program focused on helping young people, primarily from Black and Latinx communities, prepare for careers in the live music business. Live Nation Next Gen has partnered with SoLa Impact’s I Can Foundation at SoLa’s new, state-of-the art Technology and Entrepreneurship Center in the heart of South Los Angeles, where the organization is providing free education to train and inspire future leaders.According to the announcement, The inaugural program features an intensive 10-week program of courses for local students ages 16 to 21.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor“This is a very special evening for me, for us,” Harry Styles said to a crowd of nearly 20,000 at the UBS Arena on Friday, and to millions over an Apple Music livestream. “We’re in New York City for one night only, and we’ll be playing this new album for you the way it was intended to be heard: From start to finish.”And with a giant neon outline of a house behind in, that’s what Styles and his tightly drilled band did: Premiere his just-released third solo album, “Harry’s House,” at a “One Night Only” concert, an arena-sized album release party offered for Styles’ most devoted fans (even if the title was a little bit of a misnomer: There’s a similar concert taking place in London next week).

Olivia Wilde steps out for a stroll through New York City on Friday (May 20).

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor“Combat Rock” is the Clash’s most commercially successful album, and it’s also the one that tore them apart. Although it contains their two most-popular songs — “Should I Stay or Should I Go” and “Rock the Casbah”— and made them into one of the world’s biggest bands, it’s a disjointed, confusing album, with three absolutely killer tracks, a handful of middling ones and a bunch of indulgent solo experiments.

Harry Styles hits the stage for a performance on The Today Show at Rockefeller Plaza on Thursday morning (May 19).

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorHarry Styles’ “One Night Only in New York” concert at UBS Arena at Belmont Park this Friday — May 20 — will be available to stream exclusively to Apple Music subscribers in 167 countries around the world, the company has announced.The concert will celebrate his new album “Harry’s House,” which drops that day, “and will see Harry performing songs from the album for the first time ever,” according to the announcement. All tickets for the show were $25 all-in, including taxes and fees, although they are currently going for thousands of dollars on the secondary ticket market.The concert will be available to stream live on Apple Music at 9:00p EST / 6p PST on Friday, May 20th HERE and will encore on May 22nd at 12:00p EST / 9:00a PT / 6:00p CET and on May 26th at 4pm BST / 5pm SGT / 7pm AEST.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorLike virtually every major rock act in the mid-1970s, the Rolling Stones had become bloated and overblown. After the generation-defining singles of the ‘60s and the stellar string of albums running from “Beggars Banquet” to “Exile on Main Street,” they’d eked out three comparatively uninspired sets that, due to Keith Richards’ formidable heroin addiction and its multiple accompanying legal problems, found Mick Jagger seeking musical foils in guitarist Mick Taylor and then guest keyboardist Billy Preston.