Harry Styles returns with ‘Lights Up’
A review on Harry Style’s new single ‘Lights up’.
Harry Styles has made an emphatic impact on his return to the music industry by releasing a new single called ‘Lights Up’ on 11 October.
On the same day, Styles released the music video for the song, with an intriguing cinematography depicting the singer being grasped by mutiple people.
Undoubtedly, the chorus is the most powerful part of the song, providing gospel elements with the choir vigorously echoing the phrase ‘shine’.
The concept of this single seems to be a deliberate method of obscurity, with ambiguous lyrical content and visual aesthetical imagery.
“All the lights couldn’t put out the dark running through my heart’ followed by – ‘lights up and they know who you are, do you know who you are?” - Harry Styles, Lights Up
The bridge of the song could represent the pop star’s newfound confidence to convey his true self to the world, whilst the questioning of who you are could be promoting the ‘Do You Know Who You Are?’ website which launched in conjunction with World Mental Health Day on 10 October, only a day prior to the single’s release.
As for the chorus, he discusses how he’s “stepping into the light” and “not ever going back”, this could be a possible reference to a difficult time he’s been through and how he’s again found his purpose in life.
Or perhaps it could be his subtle method of trying to imply his sexuality since the song was released on National Coming Out Day - celebrating the public identification of homosexuals, bisexuals, and transgenders.
National Coming Out Day is a LGBTQIA+ awareness day that takes place annually on 11 October
Regardless of what the overriding message behind the song is, his soulful vocals complement well with the guitar and piano-based instrumental produced by Kid Harpoon.
Lights Up is currently trending on YouTube at number 48 and has over 15 million views gained within three days.
The former One Direction member, 25, had taken a two-year hiatus away from music, predominantly focusing on modeling for the luxurious Italian fashion brand Gucci in 2018.
Although it’s highly unlikely that Styles would reveal his sexuality publicly, his rise to solo prominence continues to be fascinating.
