In the four years since Harry Styles released his most recent album Harry’s House, he’s embarked on a globe-spanning tour, shot movies and won Grammys, and spent a lot of time enjoying la dolce vita in Italy. There he’s been spotted strolling down the black cobblestones of Rome, or popping up at the Vatican to see the new pope (he wandered over to the commotion after getting a haircut, how very Roman Holiday of him).
In an interview to promote the first single from March’s Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally, Styles explained that his fourth album was inspired in part by his determination to get out of those liminal spaces – airport lounges, hotel rooms – that by then must have seemed grimly familiar. “Aperture” certainly captures the mood of a new adventure. Produced with longtime collaborator Kid Harpoon, it simmers with a barely contained curiosity, like your first step in a strange city, hearing snatches of conversation in a language you don’t understand, or the moment you walk through the doors of a club full of strangers. Styles has clearly been following his own advice: there's romance, here, and dancing too.
“Aperture” owes plenty to Swedish pop icon Robyn – who will open for him during his residency in Amsterdam later this year – and to LCD Soundsystem, two masters of the delayed-gratification slowbuild. The opening synth notes are almost funereal and organ-like, forming the bittersweet backdrop as Styles steps in with his vocoded murmur, so intimate he could be resting his head on your shoulder. A stronger beat kicks in, the heart of the song, sending currents of energy off into the dark. “Go forth, ask questions later,” he instructs.
As with much of Styles’s post-One Direction output, his lyrics deal in vignettes and half-phrases, leaving the listener to complete the picture in their own mind. “I’ve no more tricks up my sleeve/ Game called review the player,” he sings in layered harmonies, “Time codes and Tokyo scenes/ Bad boys, it’s complicated.” His final syllable is looped into a refrain, pulling you with him into a sudden, dizzying synth flurry and to a burst of clarity in the chorus: “We belong together/ It finally appears it’s only love.” It’s giddy, a rush that’s over as soon as it begins.
In spite of the industry’s efforts to insist that all fans want is more of the same, artists like Chappell Roan, Charli XCX and Rosalía have been pushing back, releasing songs that stray from traditional structure or form, and with themes that challenge and question. Styles seems intent on joining them, as “Aperture” is a sprawling five minutes that shifts and evolves in a way that mirrors one of those heady nights out – no plans made, anything could happen. It’s wonderful, and perhaps more importantly it doesn’t feel as though it’s trying as hard as any of the songs on Harry’s House – the funk and soul bombast there seemed to beg for your approval. “Aperture” is sincere without being soppy, playful but not annoyingly so. Styles is off on another adventure, it says. Come with, if you want.
