Ellie Rowsell of Wolf Alice has been confirmed as a backing vocalist on Harry Styles’ comeback track ‘Aperture’.
The former One Direction star released the song on Thursday January 22 as the lead single from his forthcoming album ‘Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally’. The record is executive produced by Kid Harpoon and marks Styles’ fourth solo album, which is scheduled for release on March 6.
According to the song credits on Spotify, Rowsell is listed as providing backing vocals, making this the first recorded collaboration between the two artists.
Wolf Alice previously joined Styles on the road during a run of European shows in the summer of 2022. During the final night in Lisbon, Rowsell joined him on stage for a duet of the band’s 2021 track ‘No Hard Feelings’. Footage from that performance, along with the official video for ‘Aperture’.
Rowsell reflected on the duet back in 2022, describing the experience as “great”. “We didn’t have much time to practice but it felt like a really special moment and it’s been a really nice memory to look back on,” she said.
“I loved being on stage with Harry and his band. It was the last night of the tour and it just felt like a really lovely day,” she added.
Last year, Rowsell spoke to Nylon about spending time with Styles on the road, calling the shared tour a “really really special experience”. She also described him as “a super lovely guy” who was “really welcoming and passionate”.
NME awarded ‘Aperture’ four stars in its review, writing: “It’s also Styles as we’ve not heard him before. Rather than the loosely retro pop rock of ‘Harry’s House’ or the sweeping drama of ballads like ‘Sign Of The Times’, the star moves further toward electronic music.”
“‘Aperture’ is driven by a gently pounding beat, lifted by bursts of house piano, flashes of distorted fuzz and the 31 year old’s assured chorus delivery of ‘We belong together’. Layered with long, droning chords, it is perhaps the closest we will come to hearing Styles fronting LCD Soundsystem.”
Styles has since acknowledged James Murphy and the band as an influence on the track. “I think the inspiration from them was thinking, ‘That’s how I want to feel on stage,’” he explained. “That feeling then shaped the kind of music I started making.”
He has also spoken about needing to reconnect with his love of music after stepping away for three years following the release of ‘Harry’s House’ in 2022.
Alongside ‘Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally’, Styles has announced a major return to touring with a global run of dates.
The ‘Together, Together’ tour will include six nights at London’s Wembley Stadium and 30 shows at New York’s Madison Square Garden, alongside multi date stops in Amsterdam, São Paulo, Mexico City, Melbourne and Sydney.
