“As It Was” by Harry Styles is the first song released since Styles’ second studio album, “Fine Line” in 2019, and it is the first single off of his upcoming album, releasing on May 20th, “Harry’s House”.

Fans of Styles have been on the edge of their seats waiting for the release of this song, and as per usual, they are not disappointed. “As It Was” has a very different vibe to it when compared to Styles’ previous songs, this gave refreshing difference. It has a very beachy, 80s feel to it and I have to say, I absolutely love it.

The beginning of the song is incredibly interesting, there is a voice over of a child, maybe about 5 to 7 years old, saying “Come on, Harry, we wanna say goodnight to you.” There was a popular theory amongst fans that the child saying the opening line of the song is one of his girlfriend Olivia Wilde’s kids. Styles debunks this theory in an interview by revealing that the child is his goddaughter, Ruby Winston. Styles says in an interview with Fan Breakfast, “That streak of calling me every night before bed and I missed it once and she wanted to let me know that she was quite angry with me about it. And then I dug it up in the studio one day and added it to the start of the song, and it just kind of stuck. I loved it.”

In another interview, via genius.com, Styles speaks on the overall theme of the song, “The song is about metamorphosis, embracing change and former self, perspective shift and all that kind of stuff. It just felt like the thing I wanted to say, the thing I wanted to be doing and the kind of music I wanted to make coming back.” Personally, I love that kind of mindset with music. A positive growth mindset in an artist can only lead to good music, as evident in “As It Was”. This quote from Styles perfectly sums up the song, as listening to it feels like experiencing an amalgamation of Styles’ past and future songs.

Styles’ vocals are so on point for the whole song and his voice sounds beautiful. The accompanying music video also perfectly captures the energy of the song and the aesthetic of it is so wonderful. If the rest of “Harry’s House” is like this song, the May 20th release date is a perfect date, so fans can enjoy a fun summer album as it begins to get warmer.