WVUD

I don’t normally lay down and listen to an album straight through; I don’t sit still for very long to do so. When you’re on the beach and tired of listening to the banter around you, the best option is to plug in and tune out.

I never thought I would like K-Pop. I was never a fan of boy bands (or girl bands for that matter), especially since One Direction dominated the music industry during my time in elementary and middle school.

It starts with a cough —this album starts with a cough. It may not seem like much but, to any first-time listener, it’s a very real indicator of humanity, of sickness, of anxiety, all emanating from a boy from Grayshott, along the border of Hampshire and Surrey, England, with a way with words and an ear for jazz, hip-hop, soul, and bedroom electronica like no other.

It’s pretty ironic that I’m a Harry Styles fan. One Direction skyrocketed to the top of the music industry when I was only eleven years old. I had previously decided that I despised teen sensation Justin Bieber, so hostility toward One Direction only felt natural.