One Direction singer Harry Styles released his first single last night and it's an ethereal pop/rock track that's drawing comparisons to David Bowie.

Styles did an interview with Radio 1's Nick Grimshaw before the track's debut.

“In the least weird way possible, it's my favourite album to listen to at the moment, he told Grimshaw. “I think if you put out something that you don't stand behind and really love, then if it doesn't go well then you could regret not doing what you wanted to do.”

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Of recording the album, Styles said: “I think we wrote about 70 songs. We did 50 songs and ideas in Jamaica and that's including like little ideas … full songs, I say there are 30 songs probably. I just wanted to not be somewhere that I'd get distracted. It was 360 of writing, you'd go home for dinner, write at the house then go back to the studio. I liked being away from everything and doing it like that.”

Styles also talked about his dating life: “I haven't dated in a long time really because I went away to do the movie then did the album so I haven't in a while. I have a couple of candles left still though. I used to (research dates), then I said I'm not going to do that anymore, it's impossible to go in without a perception of someone and you've never met them and I started feeling like that was wrong and weird.”

Listen to “Sign of the Times”:

And another interview with Grimshaw:

Lyrics:

Just stop your crying
It's a sign of the times
Welcome to the final show
Hope you're wearing your best clothes
You can't bribe the door on your way to the sky
You look pretty good down here
But you ain't really good

[Pre-Chorus]
If we never learn, we been here before
Why are we always stuck and running from
The bullets?
The bullets
We never learn, we been here before
Why are we always stuck and running from
The bullets?
The bullets

[Chorus]
Just stop your crying
It's a sign of the times
We gotta get away from here
We gotta get away from here
Just stop your crying
It will be alright
They told me that the end is near
We gotta get away from here

[Verse 2]
Just stop crying
Have the time of your life
Breaking through the atmosphere
And things are pretty good from here
Remember everything will be alright
We can meet again somewhere
Somewhere far away from here

[Chorus]
Just stop your crying
It's a sign of the times
We gotta get away from here
We gotta get away from here
Just stop your crying
Baby it will be alright
They told me that the end is near
We gotta get away from here

[Bridge]
We don't talk enough
We should open up
Before it's all too much
Will we ever learn?
We've been here before
It's just what we know

[Outro]
Stop your crying baby
It's a sign of the times
We gotta get away
We got to get away
We got to get away
We got to get away
We got to get away
We got to, we got to
We got to, we got to
We got to, we got to