Despite the fact that his new album is “about having sex and feeling sad,” (and apparently, very sexy fruit), Harry Styles does not see himself as a sex symbol. In fact, the idea of being one makes him rather uncomfortable.
When asked about his sex symbol status in an interview for New Music Daily with Zane Lowe on Apple Music’s Beats 1, Styles said, “Honestly, I'd say I try and think about it as little as possible, because it's a very strange, dynamic thing. It's also like a weird thing to think of about yourself.”
Part of the reason Styles feels so weird thinking of himself as a sexual being is that it “used to feel so much more taboo for me. Even like when we were in the band,” he said in reference to his One Direction days, “the thought of people thinking that I had sex was like, ‘Oh no, that's crazy. What if they know?’”
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It's why he told Lowe he wanted his new record, Fine Line, out December 13, to "feel a little less guarded with stuff. I wanted to feel a lot freer and just more joyful and honest." Styles new musical freedom even had some fans predicting that his new video for "Lights Up" was proof he's bisexual.
In actuality, it might just be Styles coming out as someone who's had his heartbroken. "I think a lot of the time, when there's tabloid stuff, for example, of people breaking up," said Styles, whose breakup with Taylor Swift still makes headlines from time to time. "I think people forget that there's a person who's also broken up with someone, which is sad. You get sad when you break up with someone."
Of course, that doesn’t mean fans can’t find his sad music very sexy. As Lowe pointed out, many fans think his new song “Watermelon Sugar,” which he debuted on Saturday Night Live last week, is about “the joys of mutually appreciated oral pleasure.”
Styles chose to play coy. “Is that what it's about?” he said with a smirk. “I don't know.”