Harry Styles, heartthrob since his X Factor audition in 2010 and former One Direction (who still claim they're just on a hiatus) bandmember, has finally done it. He posted some of his delicious solo sound that everyone's been dying to hear. Not only did his debut single Sign of the times receive some of the best reviews a single can get; it was also praised for being a new sound from an old era and topped the number one charts in over 84 countries on its release day. Now, what makes this lengthy (5:40 minutes long) song just so brilliant according to so many? Is it just the charms of the singer or is there more going on? Time to discover.

 
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Art work from Harry's latest album

The first sign released

If you sat, like me, on the morning of the 7th of April at the breakfast table and cranked up that radio to listen to the BBC Radio 1 Breakfast show (or streamed it online like I did), you know what I'm talking about. Around 8AM, the lovely radio host Nick Grimshaw announced that he'd be playing Harry Styles' new single, exclusively for the first time. Only few had had the honour of hearing it before, his family, the band he'd worked with, some friends and some radio hosts. But now the whole world (or at least all the boys and girls who'd long anticipated this moment) was about to hear the first notes come out of those stereo boxes. Some soft piano sound filled the air, a tune we'd had the pleasure of hearing in the first official ad for the release. Then Styles' raw, deep voice smoothed over the melody. Just stop your crying, it's a sign of the times. And by then, surely everyone listening was bawling their eyes out already. Even before he hit that high note!

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Styles in the recording studio of the BBC Radio 1. Ready to co-host the Breakfast Show with Nick Grimshaw. (prerecorded). Credit to the BBC studio.

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