My task for you this week is to just press play on the mixtape and not look at who the artists are. Just press play and listen.

Listened?

So this week's mixtape features two artists whom I never really thought would be on the mixtape. Why? Because one - Harry Styles - was from One Direction, and the other was a band that I never particularly liked, a little too much of The Used clones when no one could do their sound like them.

BUT they both released albums this year, and lo and behold, I stumbled on to them and really, really like both albums! I liken Paramore's new album to Carly Rae Jepsen's pop masterpiece "Emotion" from 2015, an album of epic upbeat party jams with an 80s disco flair.

Paramore's "After Laughter" comes in the wake of a lawsuit from the former original member and bassist of Paramore who claims that he got screwed out of ownership of the band by the lead singer, Hayley Williams, thereby missing out on millions of dollars. The suit settled for an undisclosed sum.

Who knows whose story to believe, but Hayley Williams clearly has the bigger microphone, and this album is covered in innuendo or straight up lyrics the lawsuit and Williams' romantic relationship with him as well.

The last track on the album, a beautiful piano ballad (I LOVE piano ballads - which may explain why I use to love Coldplay so much. I mean, come on, "Trouble" is still one of my favorite piano based songs I've ever heard:

*end parentheses) called "Tell Me How," which pretty much sums the whole album up.

I saw Hayley Williams perform on Kimmel and she's a bad ass, she's got a little Gwen Stefani in her (who, I know at this point and time is a bit more of a tabloid fixture and reality TV show person, is one of the most badass performers I've EVER seen live. No joke, her stage presence was incomparable. She just radiated confidence, beauty, and talent. I saw her on a No Doubt reunion tour (which was AWESOME) for $5, and she just crushed it.).

Now to Harry Styles. Let's just say that I'm awestruck by his debut solo album. I think it is very good with shades and influences of all the British rockers (and John Mayer) I can think of: Pink Floyd (Meet Me in the Hallway), Bowie (Sign of the Times), Elton John (Woman), Mick Jagger (Carolina), and a bunch of 80s hairband rockers on Kiwi and Only Angel. The John Mayer track should be heard the moment it's played: Sweet Creature, which sounds more like Born and Raised-era Mayer. In fact, listen to "The Age of Worry"

and then Sweet Creatures...

Whoa. So yeah, I'd say Mayer was an influence.

But all these influences make a pretty compelling debut album from the dude from One Direction. And it's happened before people! Remember Marky Mark? His acoustic debut solo album was SO GOOD.

I AM JOKING - Marky Mark did not do such a thing (Say hello to your mutha fa me), but Justin Timberlake did! Sometimes the true talent of a group shines when he/she got solo (Beyonce, anyone?) and everyone else is left in the dust (Joey Fatone...). So if anyone's going to do it, it's Harry with the voice of an angel and a heartthrob for all the ladies. He came across pretty likable in Rolling Stone's cover article on him.

ALAS, enjoy the show!