Harry Styles is an example of how to create without committing to one genre • Fashion icon, homage to pop stars and still humble

• Fashion Icon for Men and Women. Harry Styles

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It is not really hard to understand why historically Israel has always been more influenced by what is happening in the United States than in England. Despite geographical proximity, local Zionism has always felt more connected to Uncle Sam than to Queen Elizabeth, not to mention the reasons for our cultural collective subconscious, from the war in the British Mandate to the patronage of who is defined as our closest friend in the world.

With all due respect to the Israeli affection for Fish & Chips, the Israeli pal was unmindful when Ronald MacDonald, the second crippling clown of his cultural importance after Stephen King's "It", stuck a stake in Israel in the mid-1990s. Clinton has always loved more here than Tony Blair, and the guys from Eskimo Lemon have fantasized more about Uncle America than the London friend.

Logically, this also had an impact on our cultural preferences. The Smiths and Depeche Mode are popular Israeli hammers, but their affection is usually indicative of more musical taste than the masses' preference. Oasis, Beller, Swede and Palp were a phenomenon here just as they were everywhere in the mid-nineties, but where they are in terms of the iconic status in the eyes of the average Israeli compared to Nirvana and Pearl Jam. And even if the girls in your tier loved Garlie Barlow, Mark Owen, and their friends for the Tic D's (a great future, from time to time), the British band's performance in Israel did not make the hysterical waves accompany its country backstage of Backstreet Boys, the US equivalent of the boys' band. What has come from America has always been more winky with the Levantine eye, and with due respect to British pop sensations from previous decades like Katy Perry or Robbie Williams, their fan base in the country has always been smaller compared to names like Beyonce or Justin Timberlake.

You'd expect something to change in this equation with the whole "little global village" thing, which at this point already feels more like a crowded, private apartment. But interestingly - as far as our taste in popular culture is what it was, well, what's happening now. And that's exactly why everyone is talking today about Billy Eilish (wonderful, yes?) And not someone the whole world sees as a huge icon, and in Israel he appears mainly in overseas or fashion gossip stories. His name is Harry Styles and, as a writer, he is one of his biggest supporters today Most, even if at first it seemed to be a Trojan, and that's how you deal with the outgoing Van Dirkshan, the most successful and significant boy band of the last few decades, who Simon Cowell has wiped out in his devilish mind. Cast a heavy shadow on all artistic and musical aspirations and make them self-interested in suspecting F. It happened to George Michael, it didn't pass on Robbie Williams, it happened to him too.

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But unlike the latter (and we will return to it later), Harry Stiles is aware of him, never again trying to deny him, and refers to OD (something ironic acronyms) primarily as a mother base, an initial phase of which can be fired on the career meteor to which he is currently associated, without trying To claim in vain that he never saw her home. Or as he himself said recently, in a monologue that opened his successful Saturday Night Live show: "I used to be in Boy Band. Now I'm in Man Band. What fun it would have been if my friends from Van Dirkshan were here now, but they weren't" .

But Stiles (and forgive us Zayn Malik - the first to tear the fabric of the delicate composition from which they both came) is in the thousands of light years from those that surrounded it until a few years ago. And it's not just about the hilarious looks or the novels communicated with names like Taylor Swift (who, like Taylor Swift, wrote a song about him). These are just a mantle for those who, in one bend, accurately represent the spirit of the times, and on the other hand is homage to pop stars, and even rock, who came before it.

Because when Harry Styles chooses to blur the boundaries of his gregarious gender and position himself as a fashion icon for men, women and everything in between - he is actually a product of the era. He is all tattooed like a male rockstar cliché from the 1980s and 1990s, but he is equally feminine and refined and models a different nail polish on each of his nails. He leaves his sexuality vague and answers evasive questions about his preferences in bed, but only comes out with famous and glittering women.

If we put the piece aside for a moment (and it also progresses to less bossy places with each album coming out. Still, the guy will only be 26 in a few days) - if not musically then at least conceptually - Harry Stiles is currently drawing Prince's spirit to it, say. Or even, and pardon the comparison and what will be perceived by many as less than a blasphemy - even David Bowie. Yes, you read correctly. Ziggy Stardust's androgyny, the non-binding genre of rock and pop.

The interview with Zane Low

In "Fine Line," his excellent new album, Styles is the living illustration of the musical shenanigans that characterized the last decade of the present century. One moment he may sound like Goutier on "To Be So Lonely," the other - for example, as in the album's theme song - if you didn't know it was a style song, you could believe it was Justin Vernon, AKA's beloved organ And appreciated. He carries Justin Bieber and Paul Simon's DNA together, and it all sounds perverse - everything he writes and submits with utterly natural lightness. From a lack of effort - which sometimes can also be interpreted as immaturity or musical maturity.

We mentioned Rob Williams earlier, and there is a reason for that, in addition to the fact that Stiles broke the boundaries of the sacred composition he published and conquered the world with a pop hit for Pantheon (the "Sign of the Times" ballad is in many ways what "Angels" is to Williams). Two decades ago, Ruby took everything we learned about rock stars and channeled them into more popy districts. He was entangled, had a tumultuous relationship with women, jumped from one depression to the next, was in love with himself for one moment and the other was hooked with self-hatred. His affection for sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll sometimes overwhelmed him.

But Harry Stiles is a different generation. You wanted to know why Alex Turner is the last rockstar, and everyone we stayed with was the one who was here before? Well, at one point a whole young generation got sober from that battered cliche. Along with rock, his conceptual aesthetic also died down, and in other words - if you were wondering where the junky, ego-star, pose and self-loathing star after Pete Doherty and Amy Winehouse took him to Extreme Districts - it just means you are probably too old to understand. He is, how to say, no longer cool. Mostly because among all the glam and danger fragments there were quite a few lost souls who paid for years of irresponsible conduct. But Styles? No, he's another pop-rock star, one who refuses to fall in his tongue, doesn't rush to insult entire populations and is loyal to PC rules without even talking about it or flaunting them too much. He does not speak with hatred of the past, is capable of playing an entire televised game with ex-Kendall Jenner with great grace, being interviewed at the height of seriousness by esteemed music journalist Zay Low, and on the other hand letting James Corden throw it on a crosswalk for a few seconds In the face of impatient drivers just waiting for the traffic light to change.

With Kendall Jenner at James Corden

That still doesn't mean he's a musical genius. he is not. He certainly has nowhere else to grow up and aspire, and the lack of content between his songs can also confuse anyone who will approach him with the best intentions in the world. But somewhere between the proverbial Bieber, hip-hop stars who make lots of noise and facial tattoos, vulgar pop singers, and average tic-tuk sensations with a minute's life - Harry Styles is an example of how you can still create without committing to one genre. A marker of how not to let it get to your head, channel big winds of your past and do it modestly, simply and loads, oh yeah, style.

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