Harry Styles’ Accent Is Changing – And Fans Are Mourning His Northern Twang

There’s something in the One Direction boys’ water. At the Oscars in April, former band member Liam Payne left the world confused after he debuted an accent that fell somewhere between Welsh, Irish and American. One month later, Harry Styles proved the hybrid accent is catching as he spoke with a noticeable Australian-American lilt during an interview with Zane Lowe.

‘This is like my favourite album,’ he says in a nasal twang. ‘I love it so much, and like, it was also made so much more intimate more than anything,’ he continues as he peppers his speech with the filler words favoured by Los Angeles Valley Girls.

His vocal shift hasn’t gone unnoticed: ‘Why am I so affected by Harry Styles losing his lil soft northern accent?’ one fan questioned on [Twitter](https://graziadaily.co.uk/fashion/how-to/how-to-mute-words-on-wwitter/#:~=Just%20hold%20your%20finger%20down,long%20){href='https://graziadaily.co.uk/fashion/how-to/how-to-mute-words-on-wwitter/#:~ =Just%20hold%20your%20finger%20down,long%20(this%20can%20be%20until)' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer'}. ‘Absolutely losing my mind over Harry Styles’ new accent this morning what on earth,’ added another. ‘Ick doesn’t cover it. His sex appeal has PLUMMETED [and] I am bereft,’ mourned a third.

Of the loveable things about Harry Styles (of which there are many) his former accent, a soft Manchester-adjacent tone gifted from his hometown of Holmes Chapel in Cheshire, was a fan favourite on the list of his endearing attributes. Regularly, compilations of him saying ‘wonderful’, ‘for god’s sake’, and ‘I work in a bakery’ have garnered hundreds of thousands of views.

Notably, Styles was at his most Northern during his early days on The X Factor. It became more of a lilt as he toured the world with One Direction and by the time he was a solo artist it was a rare reminder of his roots during occasional moments of excitement.

As Styles lost his accent, he simultaneously lost his innocence – growing into a globalised solo star who lives between Hampstead Heath and his LA base withOlivia Wilde. What fans are mourning is an entire Styles era and, as has been pointed out online, a Northern cadence is quite a lot hotter than an LA inflection.

When Liam Payne was roasted for his accent in April, Styles was asked about his band member’s voice on Capital FM. ‘I think it’s a little bit all over the place,’ he noted as he acknowledged his own shifting tones. ‘I’m from up North and I’ve lived in London for 10 years and I’ve spent a lot of time in America…but I think I’m with the Americans [because] they don’t think I sound American at all. Then I think sometimes when I’m with English people they expect me to sound American – I don’t think I do.’

‘Maybe I, you know, picked up a couple of bits along the way,’ he added. ‘But I try to translate for whoever I’m with.’