How Harry Styles Created a New Kind of Pop Star

February 22, 2026·57 min·4 clips

Harry Styles turns Aperture into a first-person-plural dance-floor song instead of a standard solo pop confession.

1. Rolling Stone Music Now discusses Harry Styles’ single “Aperture” and his album Kiss All The Time, Disco Occasionally. 2. Brian Hyatt hosts, and Rob Sheffield joins as the music critic whose Harry Styles comparisons shape the episode. 3. The episode asks what “Aperture” says about a Harry Styles era that is already being treated as new. 4. Rob says Harry Styles “has basically built his career around surprises,” and he ties that claim to four years between Harry’s House and the new single. 5. Brian and Rob revisit “As It Was,” calling it a deeply weird song that still became Harry’s biggest solo hit. 6. Rob describes “As It Was” as starting with kids saying Harry’s name, later explained as his godkids on a Zoom call. 7. The conversation links “Aperture” to “Music for a Sushi Restaurant,” which Rob calls a precedent for Harry’s electronic direction. 8. Rob hears “Aperture” as slow, atmospheric, clubby, distorted, and very electro. 9. He names 90s Depeche Mode, Talking Heads, 80s Chicago house, 80s Detroit techno, Carl Craig, Derrick May, and Kevin Saunderson as reference points. 10. Rob says the song hides Harry’s voice deeper in the mix and uses “lots of Harrys all over the place.” 11. The episode contrasts “Aperture” with “As It Was,” which Rob calls a first-person cry from the heart. 12. Rob says “Aperture” becomes a first-person-plural song and frames it as “We Belong Together.” 13. Brian suggests the song sounds like a “middle finger” to Harry imitators, and Rob agrees that it feels like a stylistic leap. 14. The hosts spend time on Harry’s public behavior, including his appearance at the Tokyo Marathon on Oscar night under a fake name. 15. Rob also cites Harry showing up in St. Peter’s Square and then telling a radio interview he was there for a haircut. 16. Rob places Harry’s solo career next to albums like Harry Styles and Fine Line, saying the first record felt like a shock and Sign of the Times became a modern standard. 17. The tone is conversational, detail-heavy, and full of musical side references, including Stevie Nicks, Joni Mitchell, Paul McCartney, and Leonard Cohen. 18. The format is a back-and-forth interview with Brian steering and Rob answering with long, associative comparisons. 19. Listeners who follow Harry Styles, pop history, and production details will get the most from it. 20. Listeners wanting a short headline-only celebrity update may skip it.

As heard by us

A pre-release Harry Styles conversation that treats surprise as part of the act.

This Rolling Stone Music Now conversation stays on Harry Styles's new single Aperture and the announced album Kiss All The Time, Disco Occasionally, with Brian Hyatt and Rob Sheffield treating the release as the start of a new phase.

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Want the Harry Styles era decoded before the album lands?

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