Harry Styles baffles listeners with 'different accent' while promoting new tour

Harry Styles earns a living from his voice - but according to a lot of his fans, it sounds a lot different these days.

After a four-year hiatus from the music scene, the solo star is now gearing up to drop his next album, titled Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally, in March.

Giving fans a taste of what to expect on his fourth studio album, Styles is releasing his single 'Aperture' at midnight on Friday (23 January) - while he's also announced a global tour.

The former One Direction star is set to take to the stage in seven cities - London, New York, Amsterdam, São Paulo, Mexico City, Melbourne and Sydney - later this year. He will perform 50 shows across the world as part of his 'Together, Together' tour, scheduled to take place between May and December.

Music stars such as Shania Twain, Jamie XX, Jorja Smith and Robyn will be supporting Styles.

He wrapped up his last streak of concerts in July 2023, and as he's been taking a break away from the spotlight, a lot of people haven't heard the singer speak in a while.

So when he opened his mouth during an appearance on Hits Radio earlier this week, people couldn't believe what Styles sounded like.

The 31-year-old spoke to hosts Fleur East, Will Best and James Barr about sharing his single 'Aperture' with the world - but most fans struggled to take in a word he said.

That's because the majority of viewers were completely distracted by the accent that the Grammy Award-winning crooner appeared to have.

Styles' supporters flooded the comment section with their thoughts on his Australian/American twang, which sounds very different from the way he spoke during his X Factor days.

One person pointed out: "He has a slight transatlantic accent. It’s all that travelling and living abroad."

Another suggested: "I think he picked up a few new accents from his world tour last time! He's more Aussie/American now than Cheshire!"

A third asked: "What the heck has happened to his accent lol?"

A fourth said: "I can’t work out if he’s got an American or Aussie twang in his accent now," while a fifth chimed in: "Okay, but where did his accent go..."

It's not the first time the star's tone of voice has hit the headlines, as the 'Watermelon Sugar' singer has long been accused of adopting an American twang.

After being asked about the apparent change by Nick Grimshaw in 2017, Styles explained that although it might sound strange to his UK fans, 'anyone American thinks I'm extremely British'.

The topic came up again a couple of years later while he was chatting to Capital FM, and the hitmaker said: "I think when you live in America, people think you have an American Twang, but I don’t think I do.

"I live in London, but I was recording in America quite a bit."

And while chatting to Roman Kemp in 2022, Styles detailed why his accent sounds 'a little bit all over the place' to some people.

"I’m from up north, and I’ve lived in London for 10 years, and I’ve spent a lot of time in America and stuff," he said. "I think when I’m with Americans, they don’t think I sound American at all, and then I think sometimes when I’m with English people, they expect me to sound American.

"I don’t think I do, but I try and translate for whoever I’m with."