Each night on his never-ending Love on Tour, Harry Styles thanks the crew behind the scenes who arrive long before he steps on stage and leave long after both he and his fans have gone, leaving behind trails of discarded boa feathers. In the Aube Perrie-directed music video for his latest Harry’s House single, “Satellite,” the singer bows out of the spotlight to share a glimpse into the life of one of those hardworking crew members: a little robot named Stomper, named after the “Satellite Stomps” Styles famously breaks out when performing the song.
Backstage before one of the 15 residency shows Styles played at the Forum in Los Angeles, Stomper blinks away non-existent robot tears watching a Brian Cox-narrated broadcast of the Curiosity rover roaming around Mars all alone for over a decade. But before it can get too emotional, it’s showtime. Stomper watches as the Love on Tour band huddles together, then joins them on stage during a chilling sing-along where Styles’ own vocals blend with thousands in the audience: “Spinning out waiting for ya to pull me in/I can see you’re lonely down there, don’t you know that I am right here?”
Once the show is over, Stomper is on its own once again, muddling through feathers and replicating tricks with a skateboarder leaving the venue. Venturing out into the rainy night, the robot travels across a highway; makes friends with a rat; and journeys through canyons, deserts, and mountains, searching for that sense of connection it knows Curiosity doesn’t have way up on Mars.
By the time Stomper finds it, settling in alongside Styles as he’s lying in the grass and stargazing, its battery has been worn out. Right outside of NASA, Stomper shuts down. Soon, Styles will do the same.
In just over a week, the singer will resume Love on Tour, which has stretched over nearly two full years in support of Fine Line and Harry’s House. After the final show on July 22 — the grand finale of a tour that consisted of over 160 shows, countless show-stopping outfits, and more boa feathers than Stomper could ever clear out on its own — the singer will wash the praise of the night away for one last time before going away for a bit.
“It’s really unnatural to stand in front of that many people and have that experience,” Styles told Rolling Stone last year. “Washing it off, you’re just a naked person, in your most vulnerable, human form.”
He added: “After One Direction, I didn’t expect to ever experience anything new. I kind of felt like, ‘All right, I’ve seen how crazy it can get.’ And I think there was something about it where I was … not terrified, but I just needed a minute. Because I wasn’t sure what it was. Just that the energy felt insane.”
While he’s away, Harry’s House‘s reign will continue. The album’s lead single, “As It Was,” arrived in April 2022, followed by “Late Night Talking” in June, “Music for a Sushi Restaurant” in October,” and now “Satellite.” Still, he has potential hits still hidden away on the album in “Daydreaming” and “Daylight,” maybe even “Cinema.”
Stomper’s battery may have gone out, but that doesn’t have to mean it can’t recharge for another go-round with all of its friends.