All About Harry Styles' New Single And The Genius Marketing Behind It

After a year probably cryogenically frozen, Harry Styles comes back to us with sweet, sweet music. The former band boy totally improved our Friday when he released his first solo single, and it’s crazy good.Harry teased us hard on social media by posting mysterious pictures but all that anticipation and wait was worth it, we got to listen to the incredible track! And soon we’ll see more!

Harry teased us hard on social media by posting mysterious pictures but all that anticipation and wait was worth it, we got to listen to the incredible track! And soon we’ll see more!

Building the Harry hype

Harry Styles’ solo debut is definitely one of the most anticipated of this year, the singer has totally known how to play his cards by giving us information about his work in small measures helping to build this crazy Harry hype.

There already was a Harry hype, mostly due to his previous boy band past but we gotta admit he played his cards perfectly. Harry has had a clever and calculated campaign deliberately giving little away on social media.

Yeah, Harry has teased us hard. First, a sneak teaser commercial was aired during the UK’s X Factor semifinal on March 25. The clip showed Harry walking across a room soaking wet and then walking through a door bathed in light.There was piano music sounding in the back and then a close up to his beautiful eyes, just before the date “April 7” flashed up on the screen. Killer, this boy really is extra.

Then, there were the three white blank Instagrams posts on March 31. These marked his comeback to the social media after a six months silence. Rumors of his album coming sooner than expected were ignited by these posts and were soon confirmed.

Harry really gave us something to look forward to on the last day of March. The singer ended weeks of speculation about his solo material by sharing the artwork for his track on Friday.

As elusive as he is, the singer posted a picture of himself sitting in a body of water looking what seems to be a red sunset. And so he revealed the release date of his first solo track, Sign Of The Times by captioning it “SIGN.OF.THE.TIMES // 7.APRIL.17 //.”

Fun fact: On March 31st, Prince’s Sign O’ The Times celebrated its 30th anniversary. On this very same date, Harry revealed the art. Coincidence? Maybe not, rumor has it Harry’s sound will be something like Prince or David Bowie meeting Coldplay.

As if all this teasing wasn’t enough, pictures of a flying Harry went public earlier this week. A flying Harry, yes, literally dangling from a helicopter, this boy is pure adrenaline and emotions. But wait for it, because it’s good!

The Sign of The Times

Finally, the day arrived and Harry debuted his first solo single on close friend Nick Grimshaw’s Radio 1. Previous to the debut, Harry talked with Nick about the whole experience.

During the interview, Harry said “It’s a bit weird. I feel like I’ve been hibernating in the studio for so long…You hear it in the safety of the studio…(and now) it’s time to give birth.” After all, Harry’s been working on the studio for a year after One Direction split back in 2015.

The artist also talked about how excited he felt about doing the debut with this song which he considers “The song I’m most proud of writing.”Following the song premiere on Radio 1 show, it was uploaded to Spotify, Apple, and YouTubewhere it already has over 4 million views within hours.

Many people are comparing Harry’s style to David Bowie’s, Sign of the Times is a rock ballad indie-esque that steps away from the 1D sound. Harry’s voice, the chorus, some crashing cymbals and guitar solos all blow up in the not-at-all boyband style ballad Harry delivered.

He keeps gracing us, but please do continue. As if the single wasn’t enough, it was also announced that Harry will make his television debut on Saturday Night Live on April 15.

Harry’s bringing the sound and Jimmy is bringing all his hosting skills. And Harry is debuting another song on the SNL appearance. This is happening, and it’s happening now!

Up for more

There’s not a release date of Harry’s album yet, but his label, Sony, has made pretty clear is a top priority. Harry is actually working with a top game team that is definitely delivering. The co-writer of the single, Jonny McDaid said about Harry’s sound, “I’m really excited by the way he’s sounding at the minute, he’s such a talent. I think the world is going to be really shocked at what he comes up with.”

Along with Harry, there are some top game producers such as Jeff Bhasker, who worked with Kanye West and the Rolling Stones. Rob Stringer from Sony also said, “Harry has stepped up with the vision of someone who’s authentic.”

And we can see that, just his first single and we’re loving it. But, even when not knowing when we’ll get to listen to Harry’s finished work, we are definitely seeing a video soon. As I said before, pictures of Harry flying went public. Harry was seen dangling from a helicopter at like 100 feet during a video shoot in Skye, Scotland.

He was hovering above a farmland shoreline in Scotland earlier this week, which sounds pretty extreme but sounds perfect!It seems like the video directed by French film-maker Yoann Lemoine will continue the watery theme. Can’t wait to watch it!