Oh, and of course it's not only his actual sound, this whole era has been revamped in terms of artwork, fashion, image etc. If we say the tabloids were stupidly calling Harry a rock star since forever due to shallow things like his looks, it would be harder now. It's the era of more bold, fruity colours everywhere (even on his nails), fluffy sweaters with cute animals, fun album artwork & stage designs, of dancing (even in 1D he was "not a dancer", now he explicitly mentioned it as a goal for his new music) and being fun & free etc. In the past he was seen at an Eagles concert or mentioned Chris Stapleton as one of the contemporaries he admired - now it's Lizzo and Steve Lacy and he's at Ariana Grande concerts. It makes it seem less like someone, who was always soaking up new things, but rather trying to change up his old, maybe now outdated identity. It's also interesting to see him perform his old songs now, like Kiwi, because to me they sometimes feel quite 2017, not that organic in this era.

I'd say the way this era is colourful, young and fun, cute and pretty is not even bound to a certain sound or genre. For example I've said in the past Adore You sounds a bit like The Weeknd, who is mainly pop/R&B, but also incorporates different genres and is of similar age as Harry. But his whole aesthetic is very different, I guess less geared towards a younger demographic. (And because I suspect I sometimes come across like a genre-bound, prissy music snob: I really like Blinding Lights, great song.)

Billie Eilish is a new artist and has different sounds/genres in her music from the very beginning, so there's less the impression that she changed or had to free herself from her past restraints of rock like for Harry. Personally I also think her sound is still more consistent than e.g. Kiwi and Lights Up.

We'll see how it will all develop for Harry. He's smashing it this era - in the US, but also outside Fine Line is way longer in the charts than HS1. As you said Adore You is doing great as well, I guess the singles will outstream and outperform SOTT in time. Obviously he doesn't need to appeal to an older demographic or people that expected something different after HS1 (or even 1D), he can afford to lose this handful of fans and won't cry into his pillow, if I'm disillusioned.

Because it's all going so well, I'd be surprised if HS3 is more (indie) rock - or did you mean indie like Swim Deep's Emerald Classics for example? Because, yes, I guess I could see him going into that direction. Just not returning to the sound or aesthetic of Kiwi, Only Angel or Medicine or 2015/16 influences like The White Stripes or Kings of Leon. It looks like that's in the past.