Fine Line (album)

Fine Line is the second studio album by English singer and songwriter Harry Styles, released on 13 December 2019 by Columbia and Erskine Records. Supported by four singles — "Lights Up", "Watermelon Sugar", "Adore You", and "Falling" — Fine Line debuted at number three on the UK Albums Chart and number one on the Billboard 200, making it Styles' second consecutive number-one album in the US. The album had the third-largest sales week of 2019 in the US and broke the record as the biggest debut from a British male artist since Nielsen SoundScan began. It was the last number one of the 2010s and also the first number one on the Billboard 200 in the 2020s. Fine Line has been described as rock, pop and pop rock, with elements of prog-pop, psychedelic pop, folk, soul, funk and indie pop.

Background
In an interview with Rolling Stone released on 26 August 2019, it was reported that the singer was putting the "final touches" on his album which Styles explained was "all about having sex and feeling sad." The album was also described to contain his "toughest, most soulful songs he's written yet." On the direction of his second album, Styles revealed he wanted to be more fun and adventurous compared to his self-titled debut album. Styles further acknowledged using psychedelic drugs during the recording process.

Promotion
Shortly before release, the single "Lights Up" was promoted by billboards and the caption: "Do You Know Who You Are?" in several cities around the world. The song was released on 11 October 2019 as the lead single of the album. Styles officially announced the release of Fine Line on his social media on 4 November, preceding the release of his second single, "Watermelon Sugar". On 2 December, Styles revealed the trailer for the album's third single, "Adore You", which was narrated by Spanish singer Rosalía. The song and music video were released on 6 December. Styles promoted the album on the 16 November episode of NBC's Saturday Night Live as both a host and a musical guest.

Styles collaborated with Spotify to organize a fan-exclusive event held in an undisclosed location in Los Angeles for a private listening party, where fans were taken to experience Eroda, an elaborate theme created for his single Adore You. To celebrate the release, Styles held a one-night-only show at The Forum in Los Angeles that coincided with the album's December 13 release, followed by another show at the Electric Ballroom, London on 19 December with special guest Stormzy. The album will be promoted with Love On Tour. On 28 February 2020, "Falling" was released as the fourth single alongside a music video.

Musical style
Fine Line has been described as rock,, pop and pop rock. It also includes elements of prog-pop, psychedelic pop, folk, soul, funk and indie pop.

Commercial performance
Fine Line debuted atop the US Billboard 200 with 478,000 album-equivalent units (of which 393,000 are pure sales) in the week ending December 19. It marked the biggest week for a pop album by a male artist in over four years. 

The album remained number one on the US Billboard 200 in its second week of release, selling an additional 89,000 album equivalent units consisting of 47,000 pure album sales, and becoming the first pop album to spend two weeks at number one since Ed Sheeran's No.6 Collaborations Project in August 2019.

Critical reception

Fine Line was met with generally positive reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from professional critics, the album has an average score of 76 out of 100, based on 20 reviews.

Gregory Robinson, writing for The Guardian, regarded the album as "confident, convincing and catchy." Alexandra Pollard of The Independent stated that "it may not reach the pinnacle of sex or sadness, but Fine Line is a fine album nonetheless." Hannah Mylrea of NME found the album to be "a total joy", calling it "an elegant combination of the ex-boybander's influences, slick modern pop and his own roguish charm." Rea McNamara of NOW Magazine praised Styles' decision to lean towards "ebullient, soulful pop" while naming "Sunflower, Vol. 6" as the album's best track. Writing for Rolling Stone, Nick Catucci deemed the album "excellent" and felt that "if there’s a nontoxic masculinity, Harry Styles just might’ve found it." David Smyth of The Evening Standard remarked that while Styles' music can not "live up to the sparkling imagery of his press profiles", his second album makes "a strong argument for being the most interesting boy band escapee yet." 

Jon Pareles of The New York Times described the production as a "tour-de-force" and complimented how "Styles exults in sound, not image." Chris Willman of Variety commented that, contrary to Style's description of the record, the sensuality and melancholy are "a little on the muted side", while Styles is "still stuck" in the classic rock era that he "casually [claims] as his own." Bryan Rolli of Consequence of Sound called Fine Line an "airy, melancholy album that diplomatically addresses heartache while declining to wallow in it", complimenting his more honest songwriting but lamenting the lack of energy in his vocal performance. The Daily Telegraph Neil McCormick characterized the album as "charming but inconsequential", while Mark Richardson of The Wall Street Journal described it as "earnest, forthright and delivered with polish", but "more imitative than original" and offering "no fresh perspective". In a mixed review, Jeremy D. Larson of Pitchfork described the "actual sound" of Fine Line as "incredible" as Styles's influences permeate the record, but considered his songwriting shallow and lacking in imagination.

Year-end lists

Track listing
Credits adapted from the album's liner notes

Notes
  indicates a co-producer
  indicates an additional producer

Personnel
Credits adapted from the album's liner notes

 Harry Styles – lead vocals (all tracks), background vocals (tracks 1–10, 12), dulcimer (track 10), acoustic guitar (track 12)
 Kid Harpoon (Thomas Hull) – production (tracks 2, 6–8, 10, 12), co-production (track 1), additional production (tracks 4, 5), electric guitar (tracks 2–4, 8, 10), acoustic guitar (tracks 1, 2, 10, 12), background vocals (tracks 1, 2, 7), moog bass (tracks 1, 6, 7), piano (tracks 2, 6, 8), bass (tracks 3, 5, 10), keyboards (tracks 3, 8, 10), drums (tracks 3, 9), engineering & drum programming (track 3), organ (track 6)
 Tyler Johnson – production (tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 12), co-production (tracks 3, 8), additional production (tracks 6, 10), keyboards (tracks 1–5, 12), background vocals (tracks 1, 2, 4, 7), drum programming (tracks 3, 4), engineering, drums, bass & acoustic guitar (track 4), programming & electric guitar (track 5), mixing (track 7) piano & moog bass (track 12)
 Mitch Rowland – electric guitar (tracks 1, 2, 7, 8, 10, 12), drums (tracks 1, 2, 7, 8, 12), slide guitar (tracks 1, 2, 5, 10), acoustic guitar (tracks 7, 10), glockenspiel (track 1), background vocals (track 7)
 Sammy Witte – engineering (tracks 1, 2, 4–8, 10, 12), production & acoustic guitar (track 5), background vocals (track 7)
 Spike Stent – mixing (tracks 1–3, 5, 6, 8–12)
 Michael Freeman – mixing assistance (tracks 1–3, 7, 8, 10, 12)
 Greg Kurstin – production, engineering, bass, drums, guitar, organ, clav & electric sitar (track 9)
 Jeff Bhasker – piano (tracks 8, 11), production, strings arrangement, strings conducting, background vocals, mellotron (track 11)
 Jeremy Hatcher – engineering (tracks 3, 4), engineering assistance (tracks 1, 5, 7, 8)
 Mark Rankin – engineering (tracks 2, 5, 7, 8), additional engineering (track 1)
 Nick Lobel – engineering (tracks 2, 4), additional engineering (tracks 1, 7), mixing (track 7)
 Oli Jacobs – engineering assistance (tracks 1, 2, 5, 7, 12)
 Oli Middleton – engineering assistance (tracks 1, 2, 5, 7, 12)
 Jon Castelli – additional engineering (tracks 1, 7), mixing (track 4), drum programming (track 7)
 Rob Bisel – engineering (track 5), engineering assistance (tracks 1, 5, 8)
 Kevin Smith – engineering assistance (tracks 1, 5, 7, 8)
 Tyler Beans – engineering assistance (tracks 1, 5, 8)
 Dylan Neustadter – engineering assistance (tracks 1, 5, 8)
 Ivan Jackson – horns (tracks 2, 4, 12)
 Matt Tuggle – engineering assistance (tracks 2–4)
 Dan Ewins – engineering assistance (tracks 2, 6, 12)
 Aaron Sterling – drums (tracks 5, 7), percussion (track 7)
 Gabe Noel – cello, double bass & sarangi (track 7)
 Morgan Kibby – keyboards, moog bass & background vocals (track 12)
 Leo Abrahams – electric guitar (tracks 1, 6)
 Pino Palladino– bass (tracks 2, 8)
 Davey Chegwidden – percussion (tracks 2, 10)
 Jason White – choir contracting (track 4), choir conducting (track 11)
 Nikki Grier (Nikisha Daniel) – choir vocals (tracks 4, 11)
 Tiffany Smith – choir vocals (tracks 4, 11)
 Tiffany Stevenson – choir vocals (tracks 4, 11)
 Brandon Winbush – choir vocals (tracks 4, 11)
 David Campbell – strings arrangement (track 5), orchestra arrangement (track 12)
 Sarah Jones – background vocals (track 2)
 Amy Allen – background vocals (track 3)
 Ian Fitchuk – congas (track 4)
 Matthew Wallick – engineering assistance (track 4)
 Ingmar Carlson – mixing assistance (track 4)
 James Gadson – drums (track 8)
 Julian Burg – engineering (track 9)
 Alex Pasco – engineering (track 9)
 John Kirby – keyboards (track 10)
 Jess Wolfe – vocals (track 11)
 Holly Laesiig – vocals (track 11)
 Jason Morales – choir vocals (track 11)
 Nick Movshon – bass (track 11)
 Laurence Juber – guitar (track 11)
 Homer Steinweiss – drums (track 11)
 Serena Goransson – violin (track 11)
 Tereza Stanislav – violin (track 11)
 Jonathan Moerschel – viola (track 11)
 Jacob Braun – cello (track 11)
 Elizabeth Pupo-Walker – congas (track 11)
 Jens Jungkurth – engineering (track 11)
 Ryan Nasci – engineering (track 11)
 Molly Hawkins – creative director
 Randy Merrill – mastering
 Hélène Pambrun – photography
 Tim Walker – photography
 Bradley Pinkerton – graphic design

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

Category:2019 albums
Category:Columbia Records albums
Category:Harry Styles albums
Category:Albums recorded at Shangri-La (recording studio)
Category:Pop rock albums by English artists