Harry Styles has been dropping hints that he’d be releasing new music soon, and on October 10, 2019, after Spotify accidentally notified select users that the singer’s track entitled “Lights Up” was available to download, fans knew the title of the song, and that it would be dropping at midnight.
Based on the cryptic billboards that have been popping up in major cities, the former One Direction member’s new album is called DoYouKnowWhoYouAre, and a website, doyouknowhoyouare.com, was created on Thursday. The site asks users to type in their name and a random generator delivers a positive message of affirmation. Each uplifting message is singed by Styles with “TPWK.Love, H.”
Before the new song was officially released, over 140,000 fans were on YouTube waiting for the new video to be released. A chat showed users online counting down the minutes until the “Lights Up” video would start playing, which was scheduled for 12:01 p.m. ET.
“Lights Up” is a low-tempo, almost hallucinatory pop song with lyrics that go:
“What do you mean? I’m sorry by the way, I’m never coming back down, Can’t you see, I could but wouldn’t stay, I wouldn’t put it like that, What do you mean? I’m sorry by the way, I’m never coming around, It’d be so sweet if things just stayed the same. All the lights couldn’t put out the dark, Running through my heart, Lights up and they, know who you are, Know who you are, Do you know who you are?”
As the chorus goes, “Shine, Step into the light, It’s so bright sometimes, I’m not ever going back,” Styles is shown shirtless dancing with a large group of women surrounding him, riding backwards on a motorcycle, and being frozen in the air, staring down at a body lying in the water that also appears to be him. It’s a trippy video, bordering between a religious experience or a possible drug trip.
“Lights Up” is available to stream and download on Amazon Music, Apple Music, iTunes, and Spotify.
When Is Harry Styles’ New Album Coming Out?
It’s been two years since Styles released new music. His self-titled debut album, which was released in 2017, marked a musical departure from the songs he performed with One Direction, and based on Lights Up, it appears the 25-year-old is going for a more experimental pop sounds with his sophomore effort.
Sadly, a release date for his second album has not been released. But fans can expect the singer to continue to drop more cryptic hints and perhaps, another new single before his next album officially drops.
In the meantime, Styles, who has 33.4 million followers on Twitter, was the No. 1 trend within 10 minutes of “Lights Up” release, along with the hashtag “hs2atmidnight.” And based on the fans’ reaction on Twitter, they’re loving his new sound and his new look. This is the “new era of Harry Styles” one user tweeted, while many fans referred to the new music video as “art.”
READ NEXT: WATCH: Chris Brown’s Daughter Dancing to ‘Gimme That’ Goes Viral