Recommendations of the Editorial team
“I ain’t got no more tricks up my sleeve,” sings Harry Styles in “Aperture,” but that’s hard to believe. The song itself is a turn toward pulsating dance music that feels both surprising and inevitable after the synths that crept in amid the ballads on 2022’s “Harry’s House.” Given his track record, it seems certain that the rest of “Kiss All The Time. Disco Occasionally,” out March 6, will be at least as fresh.
Styles’ new path to pop stardom
Like Rob Sheffield with host Brian Hiatt in the new episode of “ROLLING STONE Music Now” discusses, Styles spent his first three solo albums carving out a new avenue for pop stardom. At least since Justin Timberlake, or possibly since New Kids on the Block, white pop singers’ path to the charts has been largely paved with borrowings from contemporary R&B, in varying degrees of authenticity and quality.
However, Styles, who followed One Direction’s rock-influenced path, explored completely different influences. From the Britpop, classic rock and indie of his debut to the Laurel Canyon explorations of “Fine Line” to the eighties feel and occasional funk of the uptempo pieces on “Harry’s House”. (To hear the full discussion, which reviews Styles’ discography, touches on his upcoming live shows and more, visit Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or simply press play above.)
By ignoring trends, Styles created new ones, and in his four-year absence, several singers have followed in his footsteps. Sheffield compares their situation to that of upstarts like Fabian and Bobby Vee when Elvis Presley returned to his recording career in 1960 after serving in the US Army. “They all filled the gap while Elvis was in the army,” says Sheffield. “And they knew that once Elvis got his discharge papers, the wheat would be sorted from the chaff, so to speak. We would see who would remain a pop star and who would just use Elvis’ trail while Elvis marched, drilled and became addicted to stimulants.”
Role models and Leonard Cohen
The episode also delves into “Aperture” in depth, with Sheffield picking up traces of Talking Heads and Depeche Mode as well as Chicago house and Detroit techno. (Styles said he was listening to LCD Soundsystem, which is fitting.) And in a shift in perspective for Styles, the lyrics are about a collective, with the dancefloor chant of “we belong together.” Sheffield calls it a song about “a multitude of voices gathering on the dance floor.” Overall, the song can partly be read as a challenge to Styles’ imitators – just try to follow him this time.
Sheffield points to an apparently conscious echo of one of Leonard Cohen’s most famous lines – “there is a crack, a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in” – in the song’s central image. “It says a lot about Harry’s musical ambition,” says Sheffield, “that you can make people think of Leonard Cohen in this really electronic song about conquering the dance floor.”
Podcast and archive
Download and subscribe to the weekly podcast ROLLING STONE Music Now, hosted by Brian Hiatt, on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Explore nine years of archived episodes, including in-depth interviews with artists such as Mariah Carey, Bruce Springsteen, Questlove, Halsey, Missy Elliott, Dua Lipa, Neil Young, Snoop Dogg, Brandi Carlile, Phoebe Bridgers, Yungblud, Rick Ross, Alicia Keys, The National, Brian May, Roger Taylor, Ice Cube, Taylor Hawkins, Willow, Keith Richards, Robert Plant, Killer Mike, Julian Casablancas, Sheryl Crow, Johnny Marr, Scott Weiland, Liam Gallagher, Alice Cooper, Fleetwood Mac, Elvis Costello, John Legend, Donald Fagen, Charlie Puth, Phil Collins, Justin Townes Earle, Stephen Malkmus, Sebastian Bach, Tom Petty, Eddie Van Halen, Kelly Clarkson, Pete Townshend, Bob Seger, The Zombies and Gary Clark Jr. And look for dozens of episodes of genre-bending discussions, debates and explainers with ROLLING STONE’s critics and reporters.
