Mark SavageMusic CorrespondentEPAHarry Styles has sold more than 30m records across his career with One Direction and as a solo artistAfter 1,336 days, the wait is over for Harry Styles fans – he has announced his return to music.The pop star has been teasing fans since December with cryptic messages, mysterious websites and voice notes, all carrying the same message: “We belong together.”He’s now confirmed a new album, the intriguingly-titled Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally.Due for release on 6 March, it is the follow up to 2022’s Harry’s House, which sold more than four million copies worldwide and won best album at both the Grammys and the Brit Awards.The star announced his fourth album on social media by posting a picture of the cover, which shows him standing under a disco ball in an open field, while wearing a pair of swimming goggles.A press release said the 12-track album has been executive produced by his long-term collaborator Kid Harpoon.However, the star has yet to reveal any music from the project aside from a brief voice note sent to his fans on Wednesday.Nonetheless, pre-orders for the album have already begun, with the usual array of vinyl and CD editions, and a box set containing a limited edition film camera.Columbia RecordsStyles posted a picture of his album cover on InstagramStyles has been one of the UK’s most recognisable musicians since he was 16, when his mum convinced him to audition for The X Factor.There, he was corralled into the boyband One Direction with fellow wannabes Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, Liam Payne and Zayn Malik. They only came third in that year’s contest, but it didn’t matter. With fresh-faced looks and equally fresh-faced pop anthems, they became the biggest group on the planet. As they pumped out hits such as What Makes You Beautiful, Story of My Life and Best Song Ever, the size (and volume) of their audience grew ever bigger, powered by an early version of the internet fandoms that have become so prevalent today.Styles was by far the group’s most famous member – even before he seemingly inspired a bunch of break-up songs on Taylor Swift’s blockbuster pop album, 1989 – creating high expectations for his eventual solo career.Getty ImagesOne Direction were the most successful act to graduate from the UK version of The X FactorHe waited more than a year after One Direction went on hiatus before striking out on his own. First impressions weren’t favourable: His debut single, Sign Of The Times, was a ponderous and needlessly long ballad that entered the charts at number one purely on the basis of Styles’ celebrity. But it was his second album, Fine Line, that really established him as musical force – with catchy, sophisticated songs such as Adore You and Watermelon Sugar selling more than 1m copies in the UK alone.Harry’s House, released in 2022, cemented his reputation. A dreamy conflation of 70s soft rock and 80s new wave hooks, it was heralded by the smash hit As It Was, and showered with awards.Styles set off on a 22 month, 179-date world tour, dubbed Love On Tour, which drew attention for the supportive and accepting nature of the star’s audience.It drew to a close in July 2023 at the RCF Arena in Reggio Emilia, Italy – where the singer played to more than 100,000 people.Harry Styles / Columbia RecordsThe star broke a two-year silence by posting a video of the song Forever Forever towards the end of 2025Since then, Styles has kept a low profile – although he was spotted in St. Peter’s Square for the announcement of the new pope in May 2025; and ran a sub-three hour marathon in Berlin last September.The first sign he might be returning to music came on 27 December, when he released an eight-minute video, filmed at the final night of his Love On Tour concerts, featuring the instrumental song Forever, Forever.In the closing shot, the words “we belong together” appeared over a sea of bodies dancing beneath glimmering lights at the show.That phrase started cropping up again this week on a series of billboards in major cities around the world, drawing hundreds of fans who wanted to take their picture next to the message.Each of the posters contained a separate message: “See you very soon,” in New York; “Here we go again,” in Manchester, and “A gente se vê em breve,” (we’ll see each other soon) in São Paulo.There was also a link to a website – webelongtogether.co – where fans could sign up for news and WhatsApp messages.On Wednesday, some fans received a brief voice note, apparently from Styles, singing the words “we belong together” a capella, raising excitement to a fever pitch.EPAPosters teasing Styles’ comeback have appeared all around the worldThe musician is a fan of these elaborate, cryptic campaigns.In 2022, he launched the Harry’s House album with a website called You Are Home, featuring an animated door that would open to show a different image every day: A photo of the earth, Haruki Murakami’s novel The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, or Cavallini’s mushroom puzzle.For Fine Line, Styles plastered cities around the world with posters that asked, “Do you know who you are?” Again, there was a website, where fans could receive positive affirmations like “you are distanced, but not far from my heart”, or “treat people with kindness”, each signed with the phrase, “Love, H”.No further details of Styles’ comeback were revealed on Thursday – but rumours have circulated for months that he will embark on a world tour this summer.Among the supposed engagements on his calendar are residencies at London’s Wembley Stadium and New York’s Madison Square Garden.If true, it adds up to a stacked summer of concerts, with stadium tours by BTS, Bruno Mars, The Weeknd and Foo Fighters already confirmed in the last couple of weeks.
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Harry Styles announces fourth album Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally.
