The Return of Harry Styles

Written by Gianna Cicchetti

Graphic by Emily Lantzy

          In 2017, Harry Styles’ self-titled debut solo album left everybody wanting more. The 70’s rock influences on the record combined with Styles’ meaningful lyricism allowed him to stand apart from his former (will they ever come back?) One Direction bandmates and create an empire of his own. Hints such as Styles’ interview with the magazine Rolling Stone led fans to predict that his new music was coming sooner rather than later. A little more than a month after the talk of new music began, Styles released his new single, “Lights Up,” on October 11th. 

          The marketing campaign for the single was very thoughtful and personal. On October 9th, posters that displayed the question “Do You Know Who You Are?” appeared across the world. Fans ran to capture a picture with these posters that they knew were related to Harry Styles through the “TPWK” (Treat People With Kindness) motto on the bottom. The following day was World Mental Health Day, and Styles and his team took action to brighten fan’s days. That afternoon, a website, doyouknowwhoyouare.com, appeared and provided fans with personalized, positive messages from Styles. All of this combined with his unusually frequent social media activity kept fans on edge and suspicious of new music coming at midnight EST. We wished, and Harry Styles delivered.

          Now onto the single itself, the reason that this is being written. After an emerging opening beat and some acoustic guitars, we immediately learn that this song is a completely separate entity from Harry Styles. A soulful beat replaces the more rock-driven sounds of Styles’ solo debut, leaning the song into a slightly poppier, synthier direction than before. The song takes you in for a loop with a mellow, psychedelic pre-chorus and a choir-backed chorus that is passionate and makes a large statement. “Lights Up” has the power to get stuck in your head immediately with its extremely memorable sounds. Even before taking note of the lyrics, this song shows Harry’s growth as an artist and the unique, but still genuine, approach he plans to take with this new era.

          It’s a song of self-discovery, as seen in the mantra of these last few days: “Do you know who you are?” The song shows Styles stepping into the light and letting it shine on who he truly is. The lyrics describe Styles at his most confident, promising that he is “not ever going back” to his past self. There is pure contentment in who he is now and wishing for that feeling of self-love to remain. The music video complements the song beautifully with its vibrance, sweat, and scenes that almost parallel Elton John. Whether the song is completely about paving his own way for himself post-One Direction, or about his sexuality (which many fans have hypothesized), is uncertain. Either way, this radiant song proves that Harry Styles is at the top of his game, and “Lights Up” was an incredible choice to start this new phase of music with. After the first listen, my brain immediately said, “This is the song of the year,” and I think it might be right.