‘Aperture’ begins with a long, light synth intro, which builds into the beat of the song, which continues to be danceable, yet grounded by the steady vocals throughout the song. The energy builds in the pre-chorus, “It's best you know what you don't / Aperture lets the light in.” The layering of a variety of musical elements throughout the track is effective and blends together seamlessly. Among the instruments used, the song features backing vocals from Wolf Alice’s Ellie Rowsell on the record.
'Aperture' is an atmospheric track, which calls for listening in a live setting, with Styles reminding the listener of this in the heavily repeated line, “We Belong Together”. The song expertly captures the feeling of being at a summer concert with friends and having no concerns but the music playing around you, and being present, as is additionally demonstrated by the album art itself.
There is a clear shift sonically from his more recent previous work, which had a stronger mainstream pop feel, with ‘Aperture’ showing Style’s ability to produce versatile music, where he is not scared to push the boundaries of what he has released previously and challenge expectations of him as an artist. His own experiences in his time off bleed into this track, along with his own personal music inspirations.
'Aperture' demonstrates the artistic versatility of Styles, who, on this record, has shown his strength in creating music that captures real feeling and live emotion, without being held back by expectations of the sound of his music.