The former One Direction superstar Harry Styles is back bolder than ever with his newest single ‘Lights Up.’ It has been two years since we have seen any new music from Styles. Harry’s 2017 release of his solo self-titled debut album “Harry Styles” showed us a more individualistic style of the former boy band member’s personal music. Styles does a wonderful job at creating timeless music, to where if you were unfamiliar with his discography and listened to it, you may not even know what decade it was released in. In addition Harry does an admirable job of keeping it relevant and true to himself and his own unique sound he has curated since One Direction split.
While staying true to the themes and sound we were acquainted to in Styles’ debut album, ‘Lights Up’ brings a little more glamour and theatrics to the table. It’s more dressed up than some of his previous tracks, and has this almost mythical feel to it. Harry’s angelic, smooth vocals flow perfectly over the melody of the track. The aspect of this track that I love the most is how it twists and turns, taking on different forms. It’s impressive how much Styles was able to accomplish in the short 2 minutes and fifty-two seconds of this song. When the chorus hits, it almost sounds like you’ve been transported to church. The loud, warming gospel-sounding music filling your heart and soul. Harry’s brilliant vocal ability paired with the layering of vocals throughout the track gives it depth and multiple layers to listen to and dissect. Harry was very methodical in the presentation of this song, each time you listen there is something new you notice, it’s truly intriguing to listen to.
Along with the release of the song, Harry also released a music video with it, which had fans drooling. One of the key themes of this video seemed to be this idea of sexual liberation. Harry and the majority of the others who starred in this video were wearing minimal clothing, and all dancing around each other. Harry gets skin to skin with some of these people, both men and women alike. In the past Harry has denied putting a term on his sexual orientation, which I think makes this particular video all the more open to individual interpretation. Cutting from shots of them dancing, to shots of Harry sitting backwards on a motorcycle flying down the highway give this carefree, youthful feel to the video.
I’ve included a link to the music video for “Lights Up” below if you’d like to check it out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NZvM1918_E
In a cryptic tweet, Harry has teased the release of another new single supposedly titled “Watermelon Sugar” that we should be expecting soon. All in all, it is safe to say that there is a collectively large amount of anticipation for Harry Styles second solo studio album, which currently remains nameless to the public. Be on the lookout for album updates, Harry is yet to announce a release date , but I am confident it will be soon. We are only one more cryptic tweet away from discovering more tantilizing details.
Modernity Vs. Music with Kylee 