Austin gets early listen to Harry Styles’ new single at Waterloo

Get in line, Harries — Austin is one of only 10 cities worldwide to get an early listen to “Aperture,” the new single from Harry Styles, on Wednesday.

Waterloo Records is one of just 10 record stores globally hosting an in-person listening party for the song, which officially releases Thursday in the U.S. The single marks the former One Direction singer’s first new music in four years, ahead of his upcoming album “Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally,” set for release in March.

According to Waterloo, about 150 fans will be able to listen one at a time using a “personal listening device” inside the store — an experience the record shop’s co-owner Caren Kelleher described as “truly rare and intentionally different from the streaming-first world.”

Austin is the only U.S. city selected for the early listening event. Other participating record stores are located in Amsterdam, Berlin, London, Mexico City, New York, Paris, São Paulo, Sydney, Tokyo and Toronto.

The line opens at 11 a.m., with listening sessions scheduled from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., when the store closes. The event is all ages, though minors must be accompanied by a guardian, Waterloo said on social media.

Waterloo also teased giveaways of “exclusive items” for those in attendance. 

As of 10:45 a.m. Wednesday, roughly nine people were already waiting in line at Waterloo.

Styles announced Tuesday that his new single, “Aperture,” will be released at midnight UK time on Friday, which is 6 p.m. CST Thursday.

Styles’ fourth studio album, “Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally,” is set to drop Friday, March 6. It will be his first full album since “Harry’s House,” released in May 2022, which won Album of the Year at the 2023 Grammy Awards.

Fans in other time zones have already heard the song at listening events and are sharing reactions on social media.

“Every single person in that room was, like, jumping up and down,” said one TikTok user who attended the Sydney listening party.

She went on to describe the single as “effervescent” and “joy in a song.” 

The TikTok user also said attendees in Sydney were given headphones and asked to surrender their phones to prevent leaks of the song.