One Direction slowly went their separate ways at the end of 2015, shortly after Zayn Malik left the band to pursue his own solo career. While the guys took some much-needed time off — Niall dyed his hair brown and tried to backpack Thailand — they certainly didn’t waste any time on their own endeavors. Louis Tomlinson and Liam Payne became fathers, Niall Horan released the radio-plaguing “This Town” and Harry Styles started filming Christopher Nolan’s WWII drama, Dunkirk. And now, it looks like Styles is getting in on the solo music career action, too. This weekend, he premiered a teaser to his new single during The Voice U.K.
In the commercial, Styles wanders around a smoky room as a piano plays a simple riff, dramatic chords building as he reaches a ray of light. As he opens the door, sunlight floods in, and the camera focuses on his face. Styles looks straight as us as the scene cuts to black with the date April 7 across the screen. Chills, right?
So, what does this all mean? First off, after signing a recording deal with Columbia Records last year, there’s no doubt that new Harry Styles music is on the way… on April 7. As for the visual, it all seems very symbolic — the dark, stuffy room he’s in, the outside light he’s reaching for, the door he’s opening for himself. Perhaps — much like Zayn’s narrative after leaving One Direction — Styles will be vocal about freeing himself from his boy-band past.
The new track is reportedly produced by Jeff Bhasker.
With new music on the horizon and Dunkirk out in July, we’re fully ready for Harry SZN to begin.
