"Fine Line" is a song by British singer Harry Styles, recorded for his second studio album of the same name. Styles wrote the song with Mitch Rowland, Sammy Witte and producers Kid Harpoon and Tyler Johnson. "Fine Line" was later sent to Italian radio on 19 November 2021, as the album's seventh and final single.[2]
Background and release
Harry Styles released his second studio album, Fine Line, on December 13, 2019.[3][4][5] Styles wrote the song with Mitch Rowland, Sammy Witte, and producers Kid Harpoon and Tyler Johnson.[6]
Styles originally wrote "Fine Line" as a folk ballad, but he explained to Rolling Stone that it kept expanding and evolving. "It started simple, but I wanted to have this other, epic thing. And it took that shape," he said. "It's exactly the kind of music I want to make. I love strings, horns, and harmonies. So why not put it all in?".[7] In Italy, Sony Music released "Fine Line" as the seventh single from Fine Line on 19 November 2021.[8]
Critical reception
Hannah Mylrea of NME called "Fine Line" "euphoric".[9] Douglas Greenwood of i-D wrote that the song "houses all the same lyrical intensity but on a larger sonic scale".[10]Jon Pareles of The New York Times wrote that the "song makes carefully optimistic promises and unfolds over six minutes with wonderful patience, eventually summoning an orchestra. Free of his boy band, Styles exults in sound, not image".[11]
Alex Rodobolski of Exclaim! wrote: "it's the perfect way to end his tale of woe and horniness. It’s happy and sad, romantic, disdainful, and beautiful all at once".[12] Nick Catucci of Rolling Stone wrote that the song "emerges from a beautiful, Bon Iver-type haze into a big, semi-hopeful ending with a measure of uncertainty that fits the end of this chaotic decade, as Styles promises: 'We'll be alright'".[13] Maddie Lock of The Edge wrote that while the song "is certainly catchy, it is probably the most forgettable and unnecessary song on the album".[14]
