Harry Styles released the first single from his highly anticipated album Friday, Jan. 23. “Aperture” is the first track from “Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally.” Styles hasn’t released music since May of 2022. His previous album “Harry’s House” produced radio hits like “As It Was” and “Late Night Talking,” leading to a sold-out world tour and winning Album of the Year at the 2023 Grammys.
His nearly four-year hiatus has created anticipation among fans and the general public reflected in the song’s chart success.. “Aperture” broke the record for the biggest streaming debut by a male solo artist on Spotify’s global charts, debuting at number one.
Produced by Kid Harpoon, the song signals a departure from Styles’ third solo album. While drawing influence from multiple genres, “Harry’s House” was predominantly synth-pop with touches of disco and rock.
“Aperture” is an electronic track that sparked comparisons to dance-pop bands like LCD Soundsystem and Rufus Du Sol. In an interview with BBC Radio 1, Styles mentioned how spending time in Berlin and going dancing throughout Europe influenced his music taste as both a fan and an artist.
“Aperture” feels like it’s meant to be blasting through speakers across a club dance floor, though its length adds to its experimental nature. The track is five minutes and 11 seconds of glitchy techno synths.
Most modern-pop songs, especially lead singles, are inching farther and farther below the three-minute mark. As attention spans dwindle and TikTok virality becomes a surefire way to score a hit, shorter songs seem practical. But 15 years into his career, in the midst of releasing his fourth solo album, Styles has become established enough to put out experimental songs double the average length with success.
With only the lead single and track list announced, fans don’t have much information on the rest of “Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally” which will be released on March 6. A lead single is meant to serve as a preview for listeners, something to encourage them to check out the rest of the project. “Aperture” certainly sets expectations for a record defined by an electronic dance sound. However, the lyrics are too vague to reveal the record’s main themes. Styles is known for his vague lyrics. His hazy writing style lends itself to “Aperture” in lines like “It’s best you know what you don’t” and “We belong together,” which builds repeatedly in the crescendo of the bridge.
Styles will launch the “Together, Together” tour starting in Amsterdam in May and including a 30-show residency at Madison Square Garden in New York City later in the summer. If “Aperture” is anything to go by, the Garden is set to become a dance floor for 20,000 screaming fans come August.
