Over eight years, more than 550 musical acts have played at this “Tiny Desk.” The show has attracted a cult following on the internet, partly thanks to its musical curation - a peculiar mix of indie rock, hip-hop, world music, and jazz - but more so because of its authenticity. And that’s what makes NPR’s Tiny Desk concert series so special. There is an awkward intimacy in our closeness to the act, and to each other everyone senses it. The crowd leans in, feet away - a confluence of cardigan-wearing hipsters and old fogeys in suits. In seconds, the desk becomes an impromptu stage, lit up with strange noises, lively instrumentation, and performance art. Then a gong rings out - and Blue Man Group emerges from a utility closet. It is the middle of a workday, and it’s business as usual.

It sits in the middle of a quiet floor, surrounded by cubicles, stacks of CDs, and coffee-buzzed interns. The desk, made out of some kind of composite material, is no coming attraction. The performance follows a series of covers on various shows: a rendition of Peter Gabriel’s “ Sledgehammer” on The Howard Stern Show and Joni Mitchell’s “ Big Yellow Taxi” on BBC’s Radio 2 Breakfast Show.On a hot day in June, I’m packed like a sardine in an 80-person semicircle around a desk at NPR’s Washington, DC, office.

“I’ve never really done a show like this before,” he told the office, before playing the closer “Adore You.” “It just feels like I’m in the way of you working, so I apologize.”

Styles introduced his guitarist and collaborator Mitchell Rowland to the crowd while explaining how “To Be So Lonely” came together he recorded in Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios in England. “We kind of liked it when we first had it, but I really hated it for a long time and it kept coming back into the mix.”

“It’s probably the longest it’s ever taken me to finish a song,” he told the audience. Wearing a powder blue knit sweater with a baby chicken on it, Styles launched into “Cherry.” He then discussed the background of “Watermelon Sugar”: On his day off from his 2017 tour in Nashville, he saw Richard Brautigan’s novel on a table and decided to name the song after that. Harry Styles stopped by NPR for an intimate Tiny Desk Concert, performing four tracks from his new album, Fine Line.

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