Fine Line, Melissa

When you teach long enough, some of your students become your colleagues. This year, I have a fun, free-spirited, wild, hilarious friend who was once my student and is now a colleague. I now get to talk curriculum with her, laugh about other teachers, have lunch, and send snaps and memes to her. Ms. E also teaches me cool, hip, words like "yeet." She, once a day, "yeets" a kid from her room (jokingly of course). She dresses, and is at her core, a beautiful disco rainbow, and Ms. E is a big Harry Styles fan.

At one point she was at both his concerts back-to-back in one weekend, and then followed up weeks later with ANOTHER Styles concert. Then she was up, bright, and peppy for school the following day. Like nothing had happened except she got MORE energy. More sunshine. After listening to this album, I get it.

Fine Line is a concert. It is a colorful, poppy, soulful, silly, dramatic, energetic bop of an album. Obviously, other artists opened the door to this album and you hear their sound, but, also, whatever. I'm here for these shoulder-shimmying songs and then the ones that make me so deeply sad, reflective, and hopeful.

This is the kind of album that, concert-like, takes us on the ride. When we're down, we're up a second later. We start with "Golden," which I can't help but feel happy about. My critical analysis of this album is "I couldn't stop grooving," alone, in my empty classroom (#virtualteaching2022). "You're so golden," Harry sings, and I believe it. Of course young, cool, seemingly happy people like this album.

Do yourself a favor and watch the "Adore You" video. The song itself tracks sweet, poppy, fun, but then the video is so bizarre and fantastical. Much like Styles, it is quirky and heart-warming. The song, and the video, endeared me to him as a performer. There's something indescribably charming about him. Not in a heartthrob way—cool your jets. He just seems like a lovely weirdo. This is also how I would describe my friend Ms. E and I just want her to marry Harry Styles already so they can have quirky, rainbow, fun babies.

Was I caught grooving at my desk alone in an empty classroom to "Adore You"? Maybe. At one point I was leaving comments on essays to the beat of this song.

Let's get to the NSFW "Watermelon Sugar," which makes me blush but continue to groove. This song has been in my head for two weeks, and there is not much to it lyrically, so it's truly been the adult version of a CoComelon song. Trumpets layered in the background of this song and I am grooving at my desk again.

"Sunflower," has me grooving too. When he does like "Oo-ups" and mouth noises at the end (à la Bobby McFerrin), it's just enough where I'm giggling like a kid in a circus.

Inside the circus, there is a sense that Styles knows his own style—as he should with that last name. He has the confidence to pull from his inspirations, but also blend his style into every bit of this. This "Styles-style" shows up especially in "Canyon Moon" with its indie, Fleetwood vibes. "Cherry" also has this indie vibe I wasn't expecting. "Don't you call him baby... don't you call him what you used to call me," resonates. As a self-proclaimed lover of good singing, I'm not sure his vocals are the centerpiece of this album, but I also don't mind. The boyish, but somehow matured, One Direction vocalist uses his voice in ways that are purposeful. The haunting French lady at the end of "Cherry" was c'est parfait.

On to the more tout à fait bien songs of the album. "She" was forgettable to me. The titular song, "Fine Line" was just a totally, ok, kind of, fine Sufjan song for me. I was once called a "fine actress" in a review and I'm still toiling with connotation on that one. Was I an exquisite actress or, ya know, totally fine? This song was a fine song.

Justin Timberlake, Maroon Five, Bruno Mars, and Harry Styles walk into a bar. The bartender says "sorry we don't serve your kind here." JTMFBRHS don't respond, they just sit down and soberly write "Lights Up" and the world proceeds to explode. Jk. I didn't love this song, but I realized Styles is a true performer and this is a concert track. This opens a show. This closes a show. This gets all the fans to lose their minds. The backing vocals sound like a concert of fans singing with him. I get that Ms. E went 800 times to his concerts because I'm sure he puts on a dang show.

"Falling" is surely a breakup song, but hit the core of some of my 2020-2022 insecurities. "What am I now? What am I now? What if I'm someone I don't want around," is a cry from Styles. In this bizarre time in our world, in a pandemic, in a career that feels increasingly daunting, this song struck me. Sometimes just a real simple lyric, a pained voice, and some piano chords can smack you from your falling thoughts.

And then these goofy ass chords strum from a guitar like a song from the musical Godspell and I'm grooving to "To Be So Lonely." I can't tell if I'm in an angry carnival or doing a two-step next to Jesus in a clown outfit, but I like this song a lot. It gets real heavy all of a sudden—then we're back in with these guitar trills. Big fan of all of this.

"Treat People with Kindness" is what Mika was trying to do in the 2000s. This is a '70s jam, with a positive message and clapping. "Feeling good in my skin / I just keep on dancing" is a tattoo I might get. Would this be the first RC-inspired tattoo? Much like other songs on this album, there is a musical theater quality to this song. Epic, choral voices, and a dance break in the middle. I just keep on dancing... or grooving... or vibing (Ms. E taught me this one).

5 out of 5 Grooving English Teachers

Ms. E's review: "HE IS SO FUN. Also that album has so many hits that did not get radio play. 'TBSL' + 'Cherry' + 'Falling' are the trifecta."