Harry Styles‘ latest single “Aperture” hadn’t been playing for longer than one full minute before Lindsey, 20, was in tears. She was among the hundreds of fans who waited for more than three hours at New York’s Rough Trade record store to be among the first to hear the lead song from the musician’s upcoming album, Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally, out March 6. “As soon as I heard his voice, I was crying so much,” Lindsey tells Rolling Stone. “We’ve been waiting for years for his comeback.”
Lindsey was ushered in alongside three other fans she’d waited with in line, filling out one table while two more sets of four listened through black headphones at the other stations set up in the store. They exchanged wide-eyed glances with each other as she used the fur-trim of her jacket sleeve to blot her tears. They danced along, too. There’s nothing wrong with crying in the club.
The anticipation alone was overwhelming. The first listening events for “Aperture,” set for official release at 7 p.m. EST on Jan. 22, was hosted in Sydney, Tokyo, Berlin, and a few other cities hours before fans started lining up in NYC. It was enough time for a lot of conflicting reactions to the sound of the record to pour in. Some international listeners reported that the single reminded them of Lorde’s dizzying song “Ribs,” Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft deep cut “Chihiro,” and even Styles’ own “Music for a Sushi Restaurant.”
“I came in with no expectations, because everyone on Twitter was lying. Some people said HS1,” Sabine, 24, says, using the shorthand for Styles’ rock-tinged, self-titled solo debut from 2017. “I’m like, OK, I would be happy. I love HS1. And then some people said, ‘Sad, but techno — like ‘Little Freak’ [from 2022’s Harry’s House] but techno.’ I said, that’s not a thing. So it was really fun to see everyone was just lying.”
For some fans, hearing Styles doing literally anything on a record is enough after the four years they’ve waited for new music. “He could release five minutes of static noise and I would love it,” Isabel, 20, says. It’s this kind of loyalty that brought a swarm of fans out to Rockefeller Center in 30 degree weather (more like 15 degrees with the wind chill) for more than four hours. Styles warmed them up, if only for a few minutes.
Harry Styles’ “Aperture” single listening party at Rough Trade Below in Rockefeller Center.
Griffin Lotz for Rolling Stone
Phones and any potential recording devices were confiscated for the duration of the listening to prevent leaks, so fans reacting online could only reference their own memories. A group exiting the Rough Trade listening session attempted to hum the melody of the record into their voice notes app before they forgot it. “I’m singing it in my head still,” one attendee quipped to her friends on her way out the door, a poster of the Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally album cover in hand.
Lindsey describes “Aperture” as “everything disco, everything techno,” but KJ, 25, who skipped work to be there, pinpointed an entirely different sound. “It was kind of giving Jersey [Club] beat, or Lil Uzi Vert,” they tell Rolling Stone. “I was expecting more of the soul, R&B aspect, because that’s what it felt like he was hinting at. But it was completely different.”
KJ cites Harry’s House, which was awarded Album of the Year at the 2023 Grammy Awards, as an essential record in their exploration of those genres. Having become a fan towards the end of the Fine Line era, they were drawn to Styles’ stage presence in videos they watched from Love on Tour, but also his attention to detail. “He sampled Brothers Johnson, which was so cool to me,” KJ says, referencing “Daydreaming.” “He’s doing different genres that I think he’s really close to, so it’s cool to see him take that and turn it into his own thing, into his own specific sound.”
Lindsey and Sabine, like perhaps the largest portion of Styles’ fanbase, have been following his career since the One Direction days. Seeing his evolution over the course of more than a decade, they agree, has been one of the most fulfilling elements of being a fan. “He grew up so much. It’s different, but it’s different in a good way. Artists have to experiment more,” Lindsey says. “I’ve always admired him because he reminds me a lot of David Bowie. He’s just trying new stuff. It’s insane to watch him grow like that. I love it. We’re here for that.”
In July 2023, Love on Tour concluded after nearly two years and 169 shows with an emotional farewell from Styles. “You have given me memories that will last a lifetime, more than I could have ever dreamed of. Thank you for your time, your energy, and your love,” he wrote on Instagram at the time. “It’s been an honor to play for you. I hope you had as much fun as I did. Look after each other, I’ll see you again when the time is right.”
Harry Styles’ “Aperture” single listening party at Rough Trade Below in Rockefeller Center
Griffin Lotz for Rolling Stone
These listening sessions served as a confirmation that they never let each other go. Strangers danced and cried together for the brief duration of the record. When Styles finally returns to the stage, they’ll likely find each other again.
Sabine has been waiting for that moment for six years. “I love the community of Harries, like everyone going out and doing things. I feel like I haven’t had that since pre-Covid, really, because I wasn’t able to go to Love on Tour,” she says. “So I feel like now everything’s starting back up.” This new era, she adds, is a fresh start. “Hopefully I’ll be able to make some friends, get some tickets, have fun, enjoy everything.”
Fans still haven’t heard from Styles directly. He’s mostly been communicating with them through cryptic teaser posters and websites. A poster put up in New York last week read, “See you very soon.” In São Paulo, another listening session location, the poster promised, “A Gente Se Vê Em Breve,” or “We’ll see each other soon.” Despite their varied messages, each poster and billboard were connected by the same declaration: “We belong together.” To listen together, to dance together, to cry together, to be together. That’s the Styles way.
