Harry Styles: Behind the Album

The documentary follows the making of Harry Styles's first solo album. Styles has come out of his time in a group and has to decide what to do alone. The recording is done at a house in Jamaica; the musicians stay there together and the songs are largely written in the same room. The film shows rehearsal, recording and argument; which song goes on the album and which sound is used gets settled there. David Soutar directs. The documentary dates from 2017 and was made for a music service. Its most concrete side is the recording; the band plays live and most of the tracks are recorded together rather than separately. The narrative takes what it means to leave a group and work alone, and says so directly. The musicians around Styles speak as well; how Mitch Rowland joined is an interesting detail. Its limit is distance; the production was made with the artist's own team and there is no critical view. It is short and simply structured; the film also works as promotion for an album. The footage is largely inside the studio and the camera does not intervene. Who it is for: listeners of Harry Styles and anyone curious about how records are made. Who it is not for: the narrative is promotional, there is little new information, and there is nothing for a viewer uninterested in the artist.