Zayn Malik’s debut solo album, Mind of Mine, will be released on March 25, just one year after he left the boyband One Direction.
To give fans a preview of the album, Malik released two songs accompanied with music videos. “PILLOWTALK” released on Jan. 29, debuted at the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the first week and has remained in the top 10 since. The attention the song received is not undeserved. Though the song has strong language, the song can be enjoyed by all ages and is a relaxing song to listen to with friends.
Malik’s follow-up single, “iT’s YoU,” is noticeably less successful. However, Malik debuted the song on The Tonight Show and has since received criticism from both fans and music critics who say it is “boring” and an “uninteresting follow-up” to “PILLOWTALK.” “iT’s YoU” is a dull pop-ballad that is very similar to the sound that Malik claimed he wanted to get away from.
The third single from Mind of Mine was released in the middle of the night on March 10. “LIKE I WOULD” is an upbeat dance track that has a more entertaining sound than the first two singles. Though Malik made it clear that his music will be completely different from his former band One Direction’s, the newest single has a striking resemblance to the One Direction song “I Would,” which was released in 2012 when Malik was still a part of the band.
Mind of Mine has 14 tracks on the regular version and 18 on the deluxe, with six extremely explicit tracks. This comes as a surprise to many, given Malik’s former band’s pop sound. However, Malik has made it clear that he found One Direction’s pop music was one of the main reasons he left the band. The release date of the album has many One Direction and Zayn Malik fans wondering if it was meant to be a snub or scandal.