In a world geared towards the instant, addictive buzz of easy dopamine hits, it often feels like the boldest thing you can do is create something that builds, takes its time. Of course, there’s much less risk to that when you’re a pop superstar formerly part of the biggest British boyband of all time and still capable of selling out multiple nights at stadiums around the world. But don’t let that diminish what Harry Styles lets bloom on ‘Aperture’, the first track taken from his upcoming fourth album, ‘Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally’.
It’s taken four years for Styles to share new music with us, and here, he makes the most of our attention. ‘Aperture’ is an exercise in letting things grow – a gradual lift that, over five minutes, gently reels you in with layers that ebb and flow, swell and subside in just the right moments. It’s dancefloor-ready – not for a short, sharp burst of movement, but a measured marathon night out.
It’s also Styles as we’ve not heard him before. Rather than the loosely retro pop-rock of ‘Harry’s House’ or the grand theatrics of ballads like ‘Sign Of The Times’, the star heads in the direction of electronic music. ‘Aperture’ is propelled by a lightly thumping beat that’s made more or less euphoric by the stabs of house piano that dip in and out, the jittery blasts of distorted fuzz, and the 31-year-old’s resonant delivery in the chorus: “We belong together”. Add in a series of drawn-out, droning chords and it’s (likely) as close as we’re going to get to Styles fronting LCD Soundsystem.
“Go forth, ask questions later”, he instructs at one point, and it feels best to take that advice to heart when it comes to deciphering the lyrics. “Take no prisoners for me / I’m told you’re elevating”, Styles opens after letting his electronic mix cook for a bit. “Drinks go straight to my knees / I’m going on clean”. That unifying chorus line, though, feels key – and traditionally Harry, an artist who often, whether in song, show or ethos, fosters connection. You can already hear it ringing around the stands of the stadiums he’ll return to this summer – an uplifting mantra that makes Styles the “aperture [that] lets the light in”.
Harry Styles’ ‘Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally’ is out March 6 via Erskine/Columbia