Zayn Malik’s new solo album: Release date, song titles and everything else you need to know
Has the album got a name?
Yes. But he’s not telling. “I have a name for it in my head right now, but I don’t want to tell you what the album name is,” he said. Spoilsport.
Who’s producing it?
James ‘Malay’ Ho has stepped forward as Zayn’s main collaborator and producer. Sound familiar? That’s because he also worked on Frank Ocean’s lauded Channel Orange album. Malay’s also worked on records for Alicia Keys, John Legend and Tori Kelly.
What’s the gist of it?
Zayn’s given a serious-sounding ‘mission statement’ for the record. In it he says he “can map every lyric and every note to mean something to [him]”, adding: “It’s a snapshot of my life and the thoughts on my life, my hopes, my aspirations, and my regrets in the summer of 2015.”
That could mean we’ll get some honest reflections on things like leaving One Direction and his highly publicised split from Perrie Edwards. Or it could just see us get a better idea of who Zayn is as a person. After all, how much do we really know Zayn besides him being marketed as the ‘mysterious one’ in the group.
Will there be any collaborations?
It looks like this is all going to be Zayn. He’s keen to show people he can do it on his own without any gimmicks. He’s certainly done all the writing on his own.
When is it out?
“Early 2016” is all we’ve been told thus far. But with the likes of Harry Styles hot on his heels and already registering solo tracks, Zayn will be wise not to wait around for too long.
What will it sound like?
Everything, by the sounds of it. In his Fader cover story, Zayn said he’d been inspired by everything from his dad’s record collection ("A lot of R&B, a lot of R Kelly, a lot of Usher, a lot of Donell Jones, a lot of Prince. He used to play a lot of rap as well, 2Pac and Biggie.“) to Bollywood and reggae.
Having said that, it sounds like Zayn’s going for a predominantly R&B vibe. His teased (and provocatively-named) track ‘BeFour’ sounds like it’s borrowed from The xx and is said to have “sour synths”. Similarly, Fader noted that Zayn’s vocals sound closer to “Miguel or The Weeknd - mid-range R&B with a distinct awareness of its own head-nodding flow”. Very decent comparisons by all means.
There’s also an upbeat song, 'I Got Mine’, with trumpets. All the while Zayn’s insisting there’s no set style. “They don’t really fit a specific type of music. They’re not like, 'This is funk, this is soul, this is upbeat, this is a dance tune’. Nothing is like that. I don’t really know what my style is yet.”
One thing’s for sure though, it won’t sound like One Direction. "It doesn’t feel like choreographed pop,“ RCA chairman/CEO Peter Edge told Billboard.
What has he been writing about?
Interestingly, Zayn’s taken to writing from other people’s perspectives. The singer’s written one song, 'My Ways’, about his father - while another, 'I Got Mine’, was inspired by a guy in a guitar shop striking up conversation about his Prince T-shirt.
Zayn even teased the pre-chorus to 'I Got Mine’ in his Fader feature, explaining each line is from a different perspective. “It’s like, Talk is cheap but we still talk it/ Road is far but we still walk it/ Writing chalks or change the story. At that point, that could be like a teacher writing on the chalkboard, writing a story, but they can change it. Keep it moving when it’s boring. The dustbin man, putting the garbage out, whatever. Thoughts come out just like they’re pouring. An alcoholic guy who’s, like, a super creative dude. It was all different perspectives.”
Any track titles?
We’ve already discussed 'Befour’, 'I Got Mine’ and 'My Ways’. Zayn’s also let slip in a Billboard interview that there’s a track called 'She’, which apparently sounds like "shadowy, au courant R&B”. We can also expect “a sweep of strings” in 'It’s You’ and “whip-crack snare” in 'Wrong’.
Read the full article at the source: Digital Spy
