Harry Styles Steps into the Light on “Lights Up”

Two years after the release of his debut album, Harry Styles is back. Perfectly on brand with the culture of LGBTQ acceptance that he built over the course of his last tour, “Lights Up” was released on National Coming Out Day.

Written by Ellen Daly

Harry Styles spent about a year traveling the world to tour his self-titled debut album. It was his first time playing solo, and this allowed him plenty of space to develop his own image rather than being confined to the restraints of being in the world’s biggest boy band. Before the tour even started, Harry made his intentions of acceptance clear by inviting the brand-new, underground LGBTQ band MUNA to open up for him, breaking the mold of a large pop act inviting an only slightly smaller pop act on tour. During his tour, he regularly waved pride flags on stage, preached love and acceptance, and made a habit of reciting the phrase, “Please feel free to be whoever it is you want to be in this room tonight.”

The 2018 leg of his tour was a game-changer. Harry added a couple of unreleased songs to his setlist, and the one that was subject to the most public speculation was the raunchy, guitar-driven, and sexually ambiguous tune “Medicine.” Immediately labeled by both fans and the media as a “bi anthem,” “Medicine” proclaims “The boys and the girls are in / I mess around with them / And I’m okay with it.”

Harry, however, has never publicly labeled his sexuality; in fact, he has done quite the opposite. In a 2017 interview with The Sun, Harry stated that “I don’t feel like it’s something I’ve ever felt like I have to explain about myself,” and he’s stuck by that.

“Lights Up” beautifully embraces this notion of queerness without labels and pride in that identity. The music video portrays Harry dancing erotically in a sea of men and women as he sings “Shine, step into the light / Shine, so bright sometimes / Shine, I’m not ever going back,” lyrics which arguably refer to his pride in “stepping into the light” as an LGBTQ individual.

Contrary to fan speculation, “Lights Up” is not a coming-out song. In fact, it is the opposite. “Lights Up” celebrates nonconformity, resistance to heteronormativity and label-forcing, and the freedom found in the embrace of self-love. The promo for the single was nearly nonexistent, with Harry simply putting posters with the lyrics “DO YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE?” at a few spots around the world, tweeting the word “Do,” and releasing a personalized compliment generator on World Mental Health Day. His minimal and characteristically modest promo, however, did not diminish his shine on “Lights Up.”

The lead single to his sophomore album leaves fans with much to look forward to. The track strays away from the rock influence of his debut and instead relies on a breezy pop beat, but his sonic intentions for the rest of the album remain unknown. The most specific way in which Harry has described the album was in his recent Rolling Stone interview when he stated, “It’s all about having sex and feeling sad.” From the “Lights Up” video, it’s clear that the next album will be thematically darker than the first, with the visual darkness of the video serving as somewhat of an oxymoron to the title of the track.

Harry has made no indication of the album’s release date. In the most Harry Styles manner, he released new music and disappeared back into the abyss, leading fans astray from the question of the album’s release and leaving us with a more burning question: “Do you know who you are?”