Thirty minutes.
It was a mere half-hour before the day turned into another, almost time to retire to bed. Closing my laptop, I heard a scream from the kitchen. My roommate was stunned by something on her phone. Harry Styles tweeted. Seconds later, we found out he was premiering his new music video for the next radio hit, “Lights Up.”
For thirty minutes, the three of us (all of the roommates) paced from the kitchen through the living room in our tiny New York City apartment tweeting, making speechless videos and calling everyone we knew about the news.
Seventeen minutes.
I changed, as one does, into my HS tour shirt that I got at his Minneapolis show. I was trying to get into the spirit despite the fact that the shirt has been through the wringer with a sharpie mark, expresso stains, tie-dye and bear-like cuts from the washing machine. It’s the thought that counts even though he will never know.
Two minutes.
With everyone in front of the TV, YouTube on the screen, we prepared to watch the premiere on our favorite platform. I set my phone to record our reactions in front of us; this legendary moment had to be on film.
Sixty seconds.
This is it.
The next two minutes and fifty-six seconds had us with our jaws on the floor, unable to string coherent words together to form a sentence. First of all, the evolution of the music is completely different; I can only describe it as a slight Troye Sivan inspired sound combined with the Harry we met in his debut solo album.
THE VISUALS.
Harry’s eye for art has always been eccentric, full of raw beauty and whispers of confessions. From the fashion to the group scenes (to put it lightly), this is the most daring and fearless Harry Styles yet. It is safe to say that this is only the beginning of an era and I am here for it.
*Every photo used came from Harry Styles’ social media accounts @harrystyles
**This video came at a perfect time as HC Pace is celebrating fandom week