"Adore You" is a song by English singer Harry Styles from his second studio album, Fine Line (2019). It was released through Erskine and Columbia Records as the album's second single on 6 December 2019. The song was written by Styles, Amy Allen, Kid Harpoon and Tyler Johnson, with Harpoon handling the production and Johnson serving as a co-producer. "Adore You" has been described as a midtempo pop, funk, disco, psychedelic pop, and pop rock ballad, incorporating layered guitars, synths, brass and percussions in its production. A love song, its lyrics find Styles talking about the initial stages of a relationship.
Upon its release, "Adore You" received generally favourable reviews from music critics, who praised its production and Styles' vocals. It was also compared to the works of the 1975, Mark Ronson and Justin Timberlake. "Adore You" was a commercial success. The song peaked at number six on the US Billboard Hot 100 and at number seven on the UK Singles Chart, in addition to reaching the top ten in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland, and Wallonia region of Belgium. It has been certified in multiple territories, most notably a platinum award from the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), a triple platinum and double platinum certification from the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), respectively.
The music video for "Adore You" was directed by Dave Meyers and premiered simultaneously with the song's release on YouTube. Filmed in Scotland, the high-concept visuals depict Styles as an outcast in the fictional island of Eroda, where he befriends a gold-dappled fish and takes care of it. The video was teased with a guerrilla marketing campaign which took the form of a tourism website and Twitter account for Eroda. To promote the song, Styles performed it on several occasions, including The Graham Norton Show and The Late Late Show with James Corden.
Background and composition
"Adore You" was written by Styles, Amy Allen, its producer, Kid Harpoon and its co-producer, Tyler Johnson. It was mastered by Randy Merrill and mixed by Spike Stent. According to Rolling Stone, the song was written "in a burst of inspiration", in the sessions in the final week of Spring 2019. "Adore You" was described as a funk, disco, and pop rock song in press reviews, featuring elements of 1970s, soul and R&B. Lasting for three minutes and twenty-seven seconds, the song was composed using common time in the key of C minor, with a moderate tempo of 100 beats per minute and chord progression of Cm–E–A–B. Its production makes use of layered and choppy guitars, floaty and watery synths, bass and drums. The song is further driven by "big-club" beat-drop and brass instrumentation.
Built around a sombre tone, the song uses "bubbly" percussions and ends with an electric guitar solo. Rea McNamara of Now noted that the track incorporated a smooth '80s bassline. Meanwhile, Gregory Robinson from The Guardian described the bassline as modern and electronic. Ellen Johnson of Paste magazine noted that the song utilizes Far East sound. For Chris Willman of Variety, the track builds with "a throbbing beat and a funk rhythm guitar."
Lyrically, "Adore You" is about wanting to love someone. At NPR Music's Tiny Desk Concert, Styles revealed that the song is "kind of similar to what 'Watermelon Sugar' is about – that initial excitement of meeting someone." In an interview, Amy Allen explained, "It's totally a love song" that "is reminiscent of the '70s." The opening verse of "Adore You" finds Styles using technicolor lyrics and fruit metaphors such as: "Walk in your rainbow paradise (Paradise) / Strawberry lipstick state of mind (State of mind)," before he declares his yearning for the subject of the song in the pre-chorus, "You don't have to say you love me / You don't have to say nothing / You don't have to say you're mine." The chorus opens with a groovy beat followed by Styles' falsetto vocals as he sings: "Honey / I'd walk through fire for you / Just let me adore you."