Stars: 4/5
Harry Styles is back at it again with another music video for his new single “Golden,” the leading track to his 2019 album “Fine Line.” Fans have been anticipating the release of this music video after paparazzi photos were leaked of him filming in Italy. Styles didn’t keep fans waiting for long after those pictures were taken, with the music video being dropped last week.
Styles has said that “Golden” is one of his favorite tracks from his sophomore album, so I’m surprised that it took so long for him to release a music video for it. So far, Styles has released four music videos for other songs on “Fine Line,” and all of those songs were released as singles around the same time.
If there’s one thing I can say about the songs from “Fine Line,” it is they are much more radio-friendly than the ones from his debut album “Harry Styles.” All of the singles he has released have blown up on the radio and even on TikTok, and I think “Golden” will too.
The music video has a bit of a role reversal with Styles looking like he is chasing the viewer while serenading them with the track. Te video cuts to clips of him looking into water and driving an expensive convertible around the Italy coast. As a die-hard One Direction fan, I may be a little biased, but I have to say Styles looks really good and genuinely happy in this video, which I love to see.
The only thing I would take off points for is a little lack of creativity compared to his other music videos for the songs on “Fine Line.” For his single “Adore You” Styles created an entire fake island called Eroda (‘adore’ spelled backward). Eroda had its own travel website, which confused fans until they found out it was the setting of the music video. Other videos like “Watermelon Sugar” and “Falling” have little Easter eggs throughout that allude to a backstory or lyrics in the song. I don’t think this music video was that creative or had secret messages throughout, but I did enjoy the feeling of being chased by Harry Styles himself.
Overall, I really enjoyed this music video, but I felt like he could’ve done more with it. Styles has said before that this song makes him feel like driving in Malibu at sunset. Although I liked the location choice of Italy, perhaps Malibu would’ve made more sense. “Golden” may not be my favorite music video, but it is one of my favorite songs, so I was excited to watch it regardless. I’m excited to see what the release of this music video will do to the popularity of the song, but I bet it won’t be long until “Golden” is blaring through a today’s hits radio station.
