Harry Styles explains how Aperture defined the direction of his new album

Harry Styles has released his new single Aperture, marking his first new music in almost four years, while also confirming details of a major global tour scheduled for 2026. Speaking to the BBC, Styles described the track as the finishing touch to his upcoming album.

Aperture is the lead single from his fourth studio album, Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally, which is set for release on 6 March. Styles told BBC Radio 1 that the song came together at the end of the recording process.

“We had most of the album done,” he said. “Getting this song at the end, it was when we were feeling freest and really having a lot of fun at that point.” He added that the track felt like “the mission statement of what the album was about, this perfect little bow on it”.

Alongside the new music, Styles has announced 50 live dates across seven cities as part of his Together, Together tour.

The run includes six shows at London’s Wembley Stadium and 30 performances at New York’s Madison Square Garden. The tour will also visit Amsterdam, São Paulo, Mexico City, Melbourne and Sydney between May and December 2026.

Styles told BBC Radio 2 that spending time away from touring helped shape his recent work. “I think you can choose to shut yourself off from the world and it’s been so wonderful for me to stay in the universe,” he said, adding that experiencing live music as an audience member influenced the direction of his new material.

He also shared anecdotes from his time away from music, including witnessing the announcement of a new pope while in Rome.

“So the guy cutting my hair stopped cutting my hair, and he was like: ‘Habemus Papam, there’s a new pope,’” he told BBC Radio 1.

For the London dates, Styles will be joined by Shania Twain as a support act, a collaboration he described as “a full circle” moment. Other tour guests include Jamie XX, Jorja Smith and Robyn. Ticket sales are due to open later this month.

Styles first teased his return in December with the phrase “we belong together”, which later emerged as a lyric in Aperture.