Harry Styles: "Fame is something I'm still learning"

“So French!” , gently slaps the young man in a Mickey sweater, watching the L'Officiel team (a little moved and sometimes blushing, the team) get out of it. The next day, barely put online, his new song would attract, in a handful of hours, not far from a million and a half of transi (e) s followers. After a break, which was to resemble the resumption of breathing of a freediver, private torments (which will remain so here), Harry Styles returned. Barely extracted from the One Direction tourbillon (50 million records sold in six years of existence, the group observing an indefinite hiatus) - we come back to this later - he took the tangent solo, for a first album, in 2017, which saw him moult. He then left his skin of Harry of 1D to take on that of a more singular artist, dubbed by critics, in osmosis with the time - fluid, at peace with his sexuality, defending parity and marriage for all -, the chrysalis of the pop star created in a greenhouse from scratch is now dry and archisick. Alessandro Michele, vibrant, poetic and disruptive creative director of Gucci, quite mindless when it comes to distinguishing a spiritual twinning, dressed him for his first tour as a liberated man, and chose him in this season to embody the Gucci Memory of an Odor perfume. Before our meeting, in an American publication, he had just launched a few flares, revealing a few borrowed leads: the last few months, he had spent them listening to McCartney, reading Murakami, discovering hallucinogenic mushrooms, singing with Stevie Nicks, and preparing a new album, which will be called Fine Line (Sony / Columbia).

On that day, therefore, we discovered two testimonies, attesting to the journey. Ample, richly orchestrated, sparing silk and abrasive, ecstatic intoxication and the melancholy of heartbreaking dawn, these songs announce a disc of contrasts - chromatic and climatic. While waiting to plunge head first into the maelstrom in sight - promo, tour, and all the fun of star life - the 25-year-old boy calmly tells himself with this mixture of reserve and warmth that he will never let go of. not all day (to be honest, instead of requiring a dressing room out of sight, he walks quietly in his underwear between two takes, digging into the Asian dishes delivered by the local caterer without asking for a celery juice organic or steamed tofu). “The first smell I remember is probably my mother's cooking, the roast she cooked, and the perfume she wore” : so, like a good son, one of the superstars of the he epoch presents its relation to olfactory memories. (On the other hand, if by chance he stays with you, you never know, do not ask him to feed your domestic feline: “I grew up with cats and every time I had to feed them, the smell of their mash annoyed me. ” )
 

We feel, if we dare say that, that the complicity with Alessandro Michele is not feigned, that their creative lines of flight come together, quite naturally. “Alessandro is a free spirit and his way of working is very inspiring. If he wants to do something, he just does it, and I find that impressive, especially when you work for such a big brand. When you have the opportunity to witness the work of someone who is considered a master, it is quite incredible. There is no question of class, age, who did what. What he does is for everyone, for everyone, and I think all art should be like this. ”
 

Childhood, again, returns (it is true that in his eyes, it was yesterday): “I really like Gucci Mémoire d'une Odeur for its freshness, but also for the fact that it adapts and changes depending on who is wearing it, which I find funny. He probably reminds me of summer, when I was a kid. Being by the lake with my friends, where I grew up, the scent of wildflowers ... ” The contemporary era is the reflection of this verse by Henri Michaux: “ The night is not like day / she has a lot of flexibility. ” And it is an understatement to say that Michele's approach is inscribed, even intimately melted, in this breach. “A lot of borders are falling, in fashion but also in music, movies, art ... I don't think people are still looking for this gender differentiation. Even though the masculine and the feminine exist, their limits are played out. You don't have to be this or that anymore, I think now people are just trying to be good. In fashion and elsewhere, these parameters are no longer as strict as they used to be, and that gives rise to a great deal of freedom, it's stimulating. (...) If Alessandro Michele does not necessarily ask my opinion, he agrees , we show each other things. It's cool to have the opinion of someone who is not necessarily in your field, but whose work and taste you respect. ”

We perceive a new dynamic driven by, we guess, a new discipline of writing, the decision to take charge of his career - in short, a kind of serious spirit when the charming recklessness eats away at the foundations of natural talent. fiercely: “ Songwriting is like surfing. You can train as much as you want to get on the board, but sometimes the wave comes and sometimes it doesn't. And yet, we still need to train to become better. You can't one day sit down, decide to write a song, and think that you've written the best song of your life. It takes a lot of work. ” You still had to ask the young man - who, ten years earlier, worked in a bakery, and today has become a financial stake, the subject of multiple desires as well as the object of all the media attention, fantasized or factual - how he framed himself in this spider's web: “ Fame is something that I am still learning, experiencing. I'm learning to sort out what I like, what I don't like about it, what I'm willing to give in my songs, and what I'm not inclined to share. We have to find a balance. You wonder what people are going to think of such and such words ... and you have to accept being vulnerable, but at the same time, that's what makes this whole adventure so exciting. ”
 

The excitement, precisely, palpable when he reveals some clues about the upcoming album, hoping that it expresses "a feeling of freedom" . A sentiment that is not entirely foreign to some of the claimed role models, not especially introverts: “Elvis Presley or Mick Jagger, Stevie Nicks, Janis Joplin, Prince” (and, on the opposite side of the spectrum, among his recent stirring, the discovery of the wonderful Nick Drake, whose ample and finely crafted music is a delight.) “When I look at them, I don't know what they are, but it is there, that something singular. They go beyond the limits. In terms of writing, Paul McCartney has always been a huge influence. I have been lucky enough to meet some of them, they just keep on being great to me. ”