Harry, did you forget about Italy? The pop star has announced the tour for his upcoming album, but fans are disappointed

Who could ever forget the photos of Harry Styles in the fruit and vegetable aisle of a Coop supermarket? Or all the paparazzi shots around Rome’s historic center, strolling as if he weren’t one of the most famous pop stars on the planet? Or the final stop of the Love on Tour, which happened to land in Reggio Emilia, where the singer spent nearly three hours speaking Italian and even covered Se telefonando by Mina?

In short, over the past few years Harry Styles has practically been granted honorary Italian citizenship, so much so that for the teasing of his new album he decided to plaster posters across Milan, Rome, Florence, Bari, Turin, Bologna, Naples, and even Palermo. After so many declarations of love, however, Italian fans felt betrayed by the announcement of the Together Together Tour dates. What happened, Harry?

Harry Styles’ new tour

Just a few hours after the release of the new single Aperture, the first track from the upcoming album Kiss all the Time. Disco, Occasionally., the British pop star announced the dates of his next tour, set to take place over the course of the year. It could be described as a residency tour, given that Styles has chosen to focus on very few cities – London, New York, Amsterdam, São Paulo, Mexico City, Melbourne, and Sydney – but with multiple dates at each stop. In New York, there are 30 shows scheduled at Madison Square Garden, as was already the case on the previous tour, while London will host six shows at Wembley Stadium. The same number of dates is planned for Amsterdam, at the Johan Cruijff Arena.

No Italy and no Germany either, another country where Styles seems to spend a lot of time and which, according to some rumors, played a crucial role in inspiring the new album – a decision that sparked anger and disappointment among fans. Some, jokingly, vented their frustration on social media, going so far as to side with Italy’s far-right government. One Twitter user racked up 4.4 thousand likes with a tweet that read: «Matteo Salvini, it’s time to kick out the immigrants, you’re right. Let’s start with Harry Styles». Others, meanwhile, are poking fun at the idea that he has become so Italian, given how much time he has spent in the country in recent years, that he has even started to hate Italy himself.

What we know about Kiss all the Time. Disco, Occasionally.

The return to the spotlight of Harry Styles could be described one of the most awaited ever, considering that the singer’s last album, Harry’s House, dates back three years. Aperture, the first single, was released overnight and marks a clear shift away from the sound his 52 million monthly listeners had grown used to. If Styles was previously known for a melancholic retro-pop style, with clear influences from ’70s and early ’80s soft rock, the new musical direction seems to draw from ’90s Alternative Dance, with heavy basslines and vintage synths, tracing a path reminiscent of Robyn and Tame Impala.

According to what the artist said in a Hits Radio interview this morning, the album title reflects time spent in Italy and a distinctly Italian habit: greeting even strangers with a kiss on each cheek. «I’ve spent a lot of time with Italians over the past year and they kiss all the time, so it’s just art imitating real life», he explained.

So if Italy plays such a central role in the artist’s life, what happened to the tour dates? Many speculate that the dates announced so far are only a first leg, given that Styles is known for very long tours. Last time around, the Love on Tour ran from September 2021 to July 2023, with multiple returns to the same cities. The theory is not that far-fetched, considering that HS4 will be released on March 6 and that a promotional cycle lasting more than a year is perfectly in line with the marketing strategies previously used by his team. For now, however, nothing is known yet.