i'm sorry love but i don't really care

He was very cool about it, I think he kinda knew ‘it’s on the table and we have to talk about’ […] He took a long time to come back after the name popped up, even the server was like ‘is your friend coming back?’

Well what it doesn’t have is that huge dance/pop drop thing. What it is, is a really kind of personal album for him but not kind of like lone guy with a guitar but personal as he’s kind of exploring all these different modes. Lyrically, here’s what I think will surprise people the most, is how clever and revealing the lyrics are that match these great tracks. You do go away thinking, ‘This guy is really a good writer.’ You see that he’s clever and soulful at the same time the way a real music fan might be. So like all the stuff that he loves, and if you’re driving around with him he’s listening to all kinds of stuff. He synthesizes all of it into his own music, and like he says, ‘melodies first.’ So it’s super catchy, but soulful in the way that you want somebody you’re interested in to reveal themselves.

HARRY STYLES HAS LAUNCHED HIS OWN INDEPENDENT LABEL – ERSKINE RECORDS

He’d previously played the new album for his mother, on a stool, in the living room, on cheap speakers. She’d cried hearing ‘Sign of the Times.’ Now he sat with his father – who liked the new song ‘Carolina’ best – both having come full circle. Styles is moved as he describes how he felt. We’re sitting in Corden’s empty office, talking over a few last subjects before he returns to England. “I think, as a parent, especially with the band stuff, it was such a roller coaster,” he says. “I feel like they were always thinking, 'OK, this ride could stop at any point and we’re going to have to be there when it does.’ There was something about playing the album and how happy I was that told them, 'If all I get is to make this music, I’m content. If I’m never on that big ride again, I’m happy and proud of it.’

I didn’t want to exhaust our fan base. If you’re shortsighted, you can think, ‘Let’s just keep touring,’ but we all thought too much of the group than to let that happen. You realize you’re exhausted and you don’t want to drain people’s belief in you. I love the band, and would never rule out anything in the future. The band changed my life, gave me everything. I wanted to step up. There were songs I wanted to write and record, and not just have it be ‘Here’s a demo I wrote.’ Every decision I’ve made since I was 16 was made in a democracy. I felt like it was time to make a decision about the future  …  and maybe I shouldn’t rely on others.