On Dec. 27, 2025, Harry Styles shook the world when he released a YouTube video titled “Forever, Forever,” two years after he announced his indefinite hiatus. The video is filmed in a documentary style, showcasing the last day of his historic 22-month tour. Fans are seen packed outside the arena, hosing each other down with water hoses and braiding each other’s hair. They dance together, stomping to “Satellite” as Styles does at his shows. There was no rehearsal, but watching them dance feels like watching a family reunion.
The second half of the video shows Styles on stage, playing a song he wrote exclusively for the crowd of his final show. There are no lyrics, just Styles on the piano with his band playing along behind him. The song is slow, subtle yet intentional, and palpably poignant. Audience members are crying, consoling each other as they sway back and forth to the song’s gentle melody. The video ends with a wide shot of the crowd with text over it that reads: “WE BELONG TOGETHER.”
“WE BELONG TOGETHER” became the heart and soul of the campaign for Styles’ fourth studio album, Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally (KISSCO). The phrase doesn’t just speak to personal or romantic relationships. For Harry Styles fans, it symbolizes a community built with strangers—people you barely know, but trust willingly because you don’t need your mind to know what your heart already does.
These kinds of relationships and the community they build by happenstance are the leading theme of KISSCO. In tracks like “Aperture,” “Are You Listening Yet?,” and “Dance No More,” Styles explores this theme of community that frames the album.
“Aperture” is the opening track of the album and the album’s lead single. The word “aperture” refers to the opening of a camera lens that allows light to seep through. In this song, Styles relates this concept to letting light and new experiences enter his own life. In an interview with Zane Lowe for Apple Music, Styles explains that the concept was inspired by his time in Berlin, where he observed how people there connect with each other. He notes that he was drawn to “the appreciation that is in the way of life there. How special they treat their relationships with each other. How special they treat the time that is spent together.”
The pre-chorus of the song states, “It’s best you know what you don’t, aperture lets the light in.” Styles says it is okay not to know what hasn’t happened to you yet. Meeting new people and having new experiences can be scary, but they will ultimately lead you to discovering a more nuanced and refined version of yourself. When he says, “We belong together, it finally appears it’s only love,” he is urging listeners to set aside their anxieties about meeting new people because love is already there to bind them. He continues this theme of jumping into new experiences head-first when he says, “In no good state to receive / Go forth, ask questions later.”
Having the album center on love and community was not by accident; it was a deliberate choice by Styles. In the same interview, he reflects on seeing Radiohead in concert in Berlin, where he noticed strangers forming connections through their music. He states, “I think for me I had a moment of like, I’m there so that people can have this, you know. Like, I’m soundtracking this.” Community is clearly important to him, which makes his decision to open the album with “Aperture” make sense.
In “Are You Listening Yet?,” Styles urges the listener to take an introspective look at themselves and their relationships to acknowledge possible avoidant patterns. In the second verse of the song, Styles says, “You keep forgetting your mantra, which thoughts you had on your own / Ignoring all of our friends at the end of their rope.” He recognizes that it’s easy to isolate yourself when you’re under stress or pressure and resort to vices. However, he wants the listener to listen to the part of themselves that is neglecting personal relationships they hold dear.
The chorus of the song states, “Now you’re all out of choices, are you listening yet? / Between your head and heart and somewhere else instead / Oh, can you hear the voice, the one inside your head? / Oh, are you listening yet?” He is essentially saying that your heart knows that you want and crave that community, but you’re distracting yourself by getting caught up in other superficial things. In this verse, Styles reminds the listener that community is essential to being human. Fight for it, and don’t be a stranger.
In the interview with Zane Lowe, Styles emphasizes the importance of accepting “the most honest version” of others. He acknowledges that having friends who are more committed to honesty than you can be intimidating. However, if this scares you, it’s likely what you need most right now. This is a key concept the album builds off of, and is the primal essence of “Are You Listening Yet?” People often don’t want to face the truth about themselves, and as a result, stop themselves from forming interpersonal relationships. To form a community you can rely on, you must build relationships based on honesty and trust.
“Dance No More” is another track on the album that requires you to sift through its grooviness to uncover important messages about community. The first verse states, “I don’t think we should be here, I see no water or friends / But the music keeps hitting me like a ten out of ten / So I don’t think / No, I don’t think.” Harry says he feels intimidated at first because he’s at a party where he doesn’t know anyone. Being in an unfamiliar situation can be a compelling reason to leave, but he stays because the music pulls him in. As the song progresses, he realizes that he can form his own community by welcoming new experiences into his life.
Building community is free rein. Go out, find these people, build your own, or build multiple. Do what it is that gets you to meet people who are similar to or dissimilar from you. When reflecting on what he values, Styles tells Lowe, “I think going out and meeting people, having really nice conversations with people, meeting people who are like super interesting that I can go dancing with.” Forming a community doesn’t have to be with people in your immediate vicinity. As Styles discovers, your closest confidants can be people you meet in a downtown bar.
In a world that can feel increasingly divisive, KISSCO reminds us to lean on the people in our lives who make us feel whole. Finding community with others not only strengthens interpersonal relationships but can also help you feel more emotionally fulfilled. Simply put, community gives us purpose. Leave it to Styles to create music that leaves you craving it wholeheartedly.