Harry Styles’s ‘Aperture’ Lyrics Are About New Love—and Accepting Its Uncertainty

We finally have our first taste of Harry Styles’s new musical era. The pop star released a new song, “Aperture,” last night, marking the lead single for his upcoming fourth album, Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally, which drops on March 6.

On Friday afternoon, he released its official music video, which features Styles trying to run away from a man trying to attack him at a hotel. In the second half of the video, there’s a twist—and the encounter becomes a literal dance:

Fans who have long awaited the singer’s return will not be disappointed with his debut track. “Aperture” brings his new era’s disco sound to life and is sure to be played on repeat, in and out of the club.

Lyrically, Styles explores the uncertainty that comes with new love—and why connection is worth pursuing despite it. He sings, “It’s best you know what you don’t / Aperture lets the light in / We belong together / It finally appears it’s only love.” In the bridge, he asserts his resolve to stay the course on unfamiliar emotional ground: “I won’t stray from it / I don’t know these spaces / Time won’t wait on me / I wanna know what safe is.”

In a BBC Radio 1 interview today, Styles spoke about the making of his debut single—and how it plays into the album at large. He said he wrote the song last: “It was amazing for me,” he continued. “We had most of the album done, and a lot of it was exploring a lot of the themes that the song is exploring. And then getting this song at the end of the process when we were feeling our freest and having a lot of fun….It felt like the mission statement of what the album was about.

“I’d had a couple years away from work stuff and had a lot of big realizations. And [I was] just generally opening up more to the world and allowing some more positive things to come into my life. That was the culmination of all that was happening around me making this record. [‘Aperture’] was like a perfect little bow, and once this song happened it was like, ‘Oh, the record’s finished.’ It’s always been a real celebration song for me and a big driver of the want to be back in rooms full of people. It’s a song that means a lot to me.”

This is just one of the 12 tracks on the upcoming album, which was executive produced by Kid Harpoon, who collaborated with Styles on his last album, 2022’s Harry’s House. Styles has been tight-lipped about his upcoming material, aside from sharing promotional art and announcing release dates. Still, he has hinted that love may be one of the album’s themes through both the lyrics of “Aperture” and the photos of couples kissing included in his tour announcement Instagram yesterday.

Styles is gearing up for a grand return. After the album is released in March, he’ll embark on a special world tour from May to December, comprising of residencies across seven cities: Amsterdam, London, São Paulo, Mexico City, New York, Melbourne, and Sydney. That means there’s plenty of time for fans to memorize the lyrics so they can belt along with the singer during tour.

Listen to the song in full above, and read the lyrics below, courtesy of Genius.

Verse 1Take no prisoners for meI’m told you’re elevatingDrinks go straight to my kneesI’m sold, I’m going on cleanI’m going on cleanVerse 2I’ve no more tricks up my sleeveGame called review the playerTime codes and Tokyo scenesBad boys, it’s complicatedIt’s complicatedPre-ChorusIt’s best you know what you don’tAperture lets the light inIt’s best you know what you don’tAperture lets the light inChorusWe belong togetherIt finally appears it’s only loveWe belong togethеrWe belong togethеrIt finally appears it’s only loveWe belong togetherVerse 3In no good state to receiveGo forth, ask questions laterTrap doors, you’re toying with meDance halls, another cadencePre-ChorusIt’s best you know what you don’tAperture lets the light inChorusWe belong togetherIt finally appears it’s only loveWe belong togetherIt finally appearsWe belong togetherIt finally appears it’s only loveWe belong togetherBridgeI won’t stray from itI don’t know these spacesTime won’t wait on meI wanna know what safe isI won’t stray from itI don’t know these spacesTime won’t wait on meI won’t stray from itI don’t know these spacesTime won’t wait on meI wanna know what safe isI won’t stray from itI don’t know these spacesTime won’t wait on meChorusWe belong togetherIt finally appears it’s only loveWe belong togetherIt finally appearsWe belong togetherIt finally appears it’s only loveWe belong together

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