Lights Up

Harry Styles debuted as a solo artist in 2017 with his eponymous debut studio album which heavily incorporated 1970s rock-influenced production.[1] With his next project, Styles wanted to be "more fun and adventurous".[2] Speaking to Zane Lowe of Apple Music, Styles said, "When I listen to the first album now, I can hear all of the places where I feel like I was playing it safe, because I just didn't want to get it wrong".[2] His second album, Fine Line, released in 2019, turned out as an experimental record, encompassing power pop, folk-rock, and soul influences.[3] Its fourth track, "Lights Up" marked a departure from the rock style of Harry Styles towards a more pop-leaning sound.[4][5][6] Styles wrote the song with its producers, Tyler Johnson and Kid Harpoon (credited under his birth-name Thomas Hull), who had previously collaborated with him on Harry Styles.[7][8] It was conceived amidst a "burst of inspiration" during song-writing sessions in the first quarter of 2019.[9] Described by Styles as "the most unorthodox song" he has ever made, he went through "a lot of personal changes" while writing the song.[9][10] The song came about as the product of the conversations that he had with himself. Styles told Rolling Stone magazine, "I think 'Lights Up' came at the end of a long period of self-reflection, self-acceptance."[9] In an interview with Vanity Fair, he spoke about the writing process of the song:

It was written via voice notes with Tyler [Johnson]. He'd send me a track and we'd send voice notes back and forth. I wrote the lyrics and we got together in the studio to record it really quickly. On the second day I decided to put the choir on, which we don't usually do so early on. Once we put the choir on, it made the song and took it to a different place.[10]

The recording took place in three studios: The Cave Studio in Nashville, Tennessee; EastWest Studios, Los Angeles; and Henson Recording, located in Hollywood, California. Johnson programmed the track and played drums, bass, acoustic guitar, and keyboards; Harpoon performed on the electric guitar and provided additional production, while Ivan Jackson played the horns. Johnson, Jeremy Hatcher, Nick Lobel, and Sammy Witte engineered the song with the help of Matt Tuggle and Matt Wallick. Jon Castelli mixed it with assistance of Ingmar Carlson at The Gift Shop in Los Angeles. Randy Merrill mastered it at Sterling Sound Studios in Edgewater, New Jersey.[11]

"Lights Up" is a pop[4][12] and R&B song,[5][13] with a length of two minutes and 52 seconds.[18] Music critic Jon Caramanica with The New York Times characterized its sound as "somewhere between '70s soft rock, lite disco and indie pop."[19] The song was composed in ⁴
₄ time and the key of B♭ minor, with a tempo of 100 beats per minute.[18] The "modern-leaning" production consists of multilayered guitars, pianos, programmed beats.[14][15] The song prominently employs vintage and organic elements, and features gospel choir, layered synths, drum machines, and heavy bass, among others.[1][4][20] It also makes use of a supple bassline and pummeling percussions.[21][22] The Independent's Roisin O'Connor said that the track has "California Dreamin'" vibes and psychedelic grooves.[15]

"Lights Up" eschews traditional song structures and is composed of several breakdown pre-choruses and post-choruses with a single chorus.[23][24] The song opens with a 17-second instrumental that is followed by a beat at 00:19, leading to the track's opening verse. After this, a pitch-drift takes place at 00:28, driven by electric guitars that complements with Styles's tightly tuned vocals, and adds to the hazy, tripped-out vibe of the song.[24]

The psychedelic pre-chorus features Styles's distorted vocals.[20][25] The central chorus, which begins at 1:18, is uptempo, and employs piano-driven chord notes and vocoder-processed vocals in its arrangement.[16][22][24] In its composition, the chorus has cadences in the chord of B♭, led by a backing-vocal refrain, "Shine".[22][24] Styles's vocals reach a crescendo shortly before the track's outro.[23]

Most of the song uses layered vocal texture consisting of a vocal line doubled at the upper and lower octaves along with tight and electronic double-line.[24] O'Connor noted the use of "surprisingly airy" vocals which she deemed as a contrast to the "sharper delivery" of Styles's previous tracks.[15] Critics compared the song's musical style to that of psychedelic music group, Tame Impala and the early works of American singer, Justin Timberlake.[note 1]

Lyrically, "Lights Up" addresses the theme of freedom and self-acceptance.[16][17][30] In the opening verse, Styles questions life as he sings: "What do you mean? I'm sorry by the way, I'm never coming around. It'd be so sweet if things just stayed the same."[31] In the chorus, he embraces his own identity through lines: "Lights up and they know who you are/ Know who you are/ Do you know who you are?"[16] This is followed by a personal revelation in the bridge, where he sings, "Step into the light … I'm not ever going back."[1][32] Laura Snapes of The Guardian felt that Styles talks through a "conflicted inner monologue" or the lyrics find "him and a former partner talking at cross-purposes around the void of a relationship."[1] Mike Nied of Idolator interpreted the song's lyrics as "being more about self-actualization than a relationship", while Madeline Roth of MTV News wrote that the track is "all about lucidity and self-discovery".[27][33] Media publications including Time and Paper noted a melancholic edge to the lyrics.[5][32]

Prior to the song's release, billboards were put up across several cities around the world with the phrase "Do You Know Who You Are?" The phrase, which had previously appeared on Styles's tour merchandise, featured the Columbia Records logo and the acronym "TPWK" (Treat People with Kindness).[6][29] A website of the same name was set up, that offered compliments to users who entered their name on it.[34] Styles revealed the cover art and title on his social media accounts, a few hours prior to the song's release.[7] "Lights Up" was released for digital download and streaming on 11 October 2019 in various countries by Erskine and Columbia Records, as the lead single from his sophomore album, Fine Line.[28][35] The same day, Sony Music released the song to Australian and Italian radio stations.[36][37] The following day, it impacted the UK contemporary radio as a single in that country.[38] A limited edition 7-inch vinyl containing a new track "Do You Know Who You Are? (Locked Groove)" as B-side was released worldwide in early 2020.[39]

On 16 November 2019, Styles delivered his first performance of "Lights Up" on Saturday Night Live, alongside "Watermelon Sugar".[40] For the performance, Styles played a stripped-down R&B rendition of the song while joined by trumpeteer, backing vocalists, and a live band.[41][42][43] Hilary Hughes of Billboard praised the performance writing, "With little more than the piano, an acoustic guitar, a trumpet and the intricate harmonies of his back-up singers, Styles belted every high note and danced to the beat of the song's bridge."[41] Styles performed the song again on Later... with Jools Holland on 21 November and at Capital FM's Jingle Bell Ball on 7 December.[44][45] The song was included on the setlist of his one-night concert at the Forum, Los Angeles on 13 December, to commemorate the release of Fine Line.[46] On 18 December, Styles performed the song on BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge.[47]

Music critics lauded Styles for experimenting with pop and R&B sounds. Time's writer Raisa Bruner labelled "Lights Up" as one of the best songs of its release week and felt that Styles's new musical direction showcased his versatility as an artist.[5] In a positive review for The Guardian, Snapes acclaimed the refreshing sound, arguing that it distinguished Styles from his British male contemporaries and from the "narcotised" synth-pop-dominated sounds of that year.[1] Caramanica said that the song was "a soft-touch re-entry into the pop slipstream" that played to Styles's strengths, demanding nothing more "than a gentle coo" from his voice and "surround[ed] it with a plangent sparkle."[19] The Atlantic's Spencer Kornhaber observed that "Lights Up" rendered "the sort of spooky-yet-easy listening" territory that has seldom been explored since Donovan's 'Mellow Yellow'.[48] Anthony Kozlowski of Atwood Magazine deemed the track as "high-minded and experimental".[49]

Critics have also commented on the song's unconventional structure and arrangement. Chris DeVille of Stereogum thought that the song's structure showcased Styles's ability to "toy around with accessible sounds without descending into the blasé".[50] Pitchfork's Anna Gaca believed it was "designed to wriggle through the strictures of pop songwriting."[20] Reviewing for Clash, Susan Hansen selected it as the best track on Fine Line. She praised the "subtle, but acute build up" of the song and was impressed with its detailed arrangement of horns, congas, and choir.[51] Callie Ahlgrim of Insider regarded it as "an impeccable choice for the lead single from Fine Line" that established Styles's status as a confident and satisfying artist.[30]

Some critics picked the song as an album outlier. Nied asserted that though the track "doesn't perfectly blend with the other material, it's presence is still very welcome on the tracklist and provides an interesting direction."[33] Similarly, Chris Willman of Variety saw it as a "distinct modern outlier" on the album and identified it as "heavenly electro-chorale".[52] O'Connor gave the song four out of five stars, calling it "Styles's most assured song to date."[15]

Other reviewers were favourable. Rea Mc'Namara of Now viewed the track as "transcendent and spiritual" and as "an all-too-brief ode to self-love and letting go."[53] Craig Jenkins, writing for New York magazine, regarded it as "a breezy tune for the start of hoodie weather" as well as "an encouraging sentiment for a day about celebrating what makes all of us unique."[4] In a mixed review, Tim Sendra of AllMusic found the song "inoffensive and sweet," arguing that it was "only saved from the skip button by the always impressive vocals."[54]

"Lights Up" entered and peaked at number three on the 18 October 2019 issue of the UK Singles Chart.[55] It gave Styles his second top-10 entry on the chart, after "Sign of the Times" (2017).[56] In May 2020, the song was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for 400,000 track-equivalent units.[57] In Ireland, the song reached number four on the Irish Singles Chart, making it Styles's second top-10 hit in the country.[58] In Australia, the song charted at number seven on the Australian Singles Chart,[59] and was certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for exceeding 70,000 units.[60] The song attained the same peak position in New Zealand,[61] and received a gold certification from the Recorded Music NZ.[62]

In the United States, "Lights Up" debuted and peaked at number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart dated 26 October 2019, accumulating 21.5 million streams and 20,000 download sales in its opening week.[63] It became Styles's second chart appearance on the Hot 100 following "Sign of the Times".[64] The song was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for track-equivalent sales of 1,000,000 units.[65] In Canada, the song peaked at number 14 on the Canadian Hot 100 and was certified platinum by Music Canada.[66][67] The song reached number four in Greece,[68] number nine in Hungary,[69] number four in Latvia,[70] number three in Lithuania,[71] and number six in both Scotland and Slovakia.[72][73] It entered the top 20 in charts of Austria,[74] Finland,[75] Malaysia,[76] Norway,[77] Singapore,[78] and Sweden.[79] The song further charted within the top 40 in Denmark,[80] Italy,[81] Netherlands,[82] Poland,[83] Portugal,[84] and Switzerland.[85] Despite not charting in Brazil, "Lights Up" was certified double platinum by Pro-Música Brasil.[86]

The music video for "Lights Up" was directed by Vincent Haycock and was filmed in México City in August 2019.[23][87] The video premiered on YouTube on 11 October 2019, the same day as the song's release.[88]

The visual shows Styles shirtless at a bacchanal, dancing in a crowd of males and females who are drenched in sweat.[89] They drape themselves over Styles, "gently jostling and caressing each other" as he throws his head back in ecstasy.[4][32][90] The video is also interspersed with scenes of Styles riding on the back of a motorcycle and strolling around an empty flared-up building.[88] The clip takes a psychedelic turn as he is seen wading alone in the sea while bathed in red light and donning a black sequin blazer.[91][92] He later finds himself staring at his own reflection while being hanged upside down.[32][92] The entire visual mostly takes place in the dark, occasionally utilising neon red, pastel pink, and blue filters.[4][20]

Various media publications interpreted the single as a "bisexual anthem" following its release on the National Coming Out Day, and due to the music video's sexually-fluid imagery.[note 2] Entertainment Weekly's Maureen Lee Lenker associated the video's psychedelic temperament to be inspired by Styles's declaration of use of psychedelics, as well as "having sex and feeling sad".[7] Georgia Slater of People wrote that the visual portrayed "a sexy and more emotional side of Styles."[92] Similarly, W's Jocelyn Silver described it as "a steamy, moody, Ryan McGinley-esque piece of work".[91]

• Digital download / streaming[35]

1. "Lights Up" – 2:52

• 7-inch vinyl[39]

1. "Lights Up" – 2:52
2. "Do You Know Who You Are?" (Locked Groove)

Credits are adapted from the liner notes of Fine Line.[11]