“Do you know who you are?”, Harry Styles questions in the anthemic return to the spotlight since his 2017 self-titled debut. ‘Lights Up’ is a bold and invigorating release that continues the soulful rock-pop sound he’s established and further reach towards that much wanted stadium status.
Coinciding with National Coming Out Day, Styles embraces his bisexuality through the track and stresses the importance of being authentically yourself. The accompanying music video sees him surrounded by scantily-clad men and women in a moody and very aesthetic art-piece that is so important for this time in political and social history.
The song’s bridge hears him encouraging the revolution of everyone standing up and being themselves by singing; “Shine, step into the light. Shine, so bright sometimes. Shine, I’m not ever going back”. It holds a really powerful sentiment that will immediately capture your attention. But during that bridge I couldn’t held but start singing along to Vanessa Amorosi’s ‘Shine’ hook which is eerily similar in structure.
‘Lights Up’ is a bold track that welcomes Harry Styles back with a mood indie-rock production that is cinematically beautiful in so many different ways and is an anthem in it’s own right.