Maeve McDermott

USATODAY

Few young stars have such a well-documented respect for their teenage female fans as Harry Styles.

Ahead of his self-titled debut album's release on Friday, Styles told USA TODAY the lessons he hopes his younger fans take from his album, urging them to be brave enough to make mistakes.

"To me, the only example to set that’s good is being honest," he said. "It’s not a good example to set to not make any mistakes because I don’t think it’s realistic. I think making mistakes and learning from them is a much better example to set for people. And if I want someone to listen to the album and take away anything from it, it’s that if you’re trying to do something that you love, you should be yourself, and be honest with it, and not try and hide and allow yourself to be vulnerable."

These vulnerable moments form the backbone of Styles' new album, a collection of tracks he compared recording to "therapy." Many of his new songs address failed relationships and questionable behavior, and when asked what his fans would think about the album's more grown-up tracks, Styles refused to apologize for their content.

"A lot of the album is me trying to prove to myself that I can do something, and I obviously hope that people like it," he said. "But be honest, and be open, and be vulnerable, is something I hope people take from it."

Harry Styles interview: Music is 'like therapy,' and 'honesty' is his drug

In his recent cover story for Rolling Stone, Styles explained why he's proud of his fanbase's demographics, consisting of many listeners who followed his career from his One Direction days to his new solo success.

"Who's to say that young girls who like pop music – short for popular, right? – have worse musical taste than a 30-year-old hipster guy?" he said. "That's not up to you to say. Music is something that's always changing. There's no goal posts. Young girls like the Beatles. You gonna tell me they're not serious? How can you say young girls don't get it? They're our future. Our future doctors, lawyers, mothers, presidents, they kind of keep the world going. Teenage-girl fans – they don't lie. If they like you, they're there. They don't act 'too cool.' They like you, and they tell you. Which is sick."

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