I’m sorry, Zayn Malik, I was unfamiliar with your game
Review of Zayn’s ROOM UNDER THE STAIRS
Zayn — ROOM UNDER THE STAIRS
Released May 17, 2024
I remember where I was when the news broke that Zayn was leaving One Direction — I was in 10th grade World Cultures and we were working in small groups when a girl working in a group behind me secretly pulls out her phone and tells the other girls in her group the news. I was mostly moved on from One Direction by that time as I often flit between hyperfixations, at the time this happened I was preoccupied by listening to Cabaret and watching Across the Universe. But, having once been a One Direction fangirl, (although I was a Liam girl initially, I have since become a born-again Harry girl) I knew how huge and monumental it was that any member of the band would be leaving. And of course we know now that Zayn leaving was the beginning of the end, the band would release one more album before going on a “hiatus” that is going on nine years strong.
Since his departure from the group, Zayn has gone on to release his own music, including his first single “Pillowtalk” and a feature on “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever” with Taylor Swift for the Fifty Shades Darker soundtrack. On his first three solo records, he leaned into a more R&B sound, much different from his boy band days, but on Room Under the Stairs, his fourth solo venture, he’s taking on a new style yet again with some help from country and Americana producer Dave Cobb.
Dave Cobb is quickly becoming one of my favorite producers and a name I know I can trust to deliver quality whenever I see he’s attached to a project. I first learned about him in connection to Jason Isbell and his solo records as well as the ones he makes with his band, The 400 Unit. But Cobb has also produced for some of the biggest names in the country and more specifically Americana genres like Chris Stapleton, Sturgill Simpson, Lake Street Dive, Lori McKenna, Amanda Shires, Red Clay Strays, Ashley Monroe, John Prine, Brandi Carlile, and legends like George Jones and Waylon Jennings. He’s also expanded outside of the country genre, producing for Lady Gaga on the A Star is Born soundtrack and for Greta Van Fleet’s Starcatcher album. So I really commend Zayn, not only for stepping into new sonic territory, but also for getting one of the best in that sound to collaborate with. I think that shows true dedication to the sound and an honest desire to try something new when artists seek out respected writers and producers to work on their projects as opposed to a quick get-in-get-out stopover in a genre on the way to the next.
I’ll admit, the writing on this isn’t my favorite. In an Instagram post announcing the album, Zayn wrote “There’s just me writing this, I didn’t want anyone else to be in between me and the music, and the music and the people listening to it.”Here’s the problem with that: it’s mostly true but not totally. Most of the songs he did write himself, however he had some help on “Something in the Water” and Stardust,” but on “False Starts” he has no writing credit. Usually I wouldn’t make too big an issue of this, not all singers are writers and not all writers are singers, I get that. But the issue with his writing on this album comes from the fact that the songs are, as Claire Shaffer put it best, anonymous. Shaffer rightly notes in her review that we know quite a bit about Zayn’s personal life — his on-again-off-again relationship with model Gigi Hadid, their four year daughter, and the publicly inhospitable relationship Zayn shared with his mother-in-law Yolanda. Surely since the final breakup between Zayn and Hadid and the years Zayn has spent living in rural Pennsylvania and raising bees that would have inspired lyrics that were a little more directly touching on the last few years in his life. And while I can respect not wanting to share too personal of details, especially about his young child, none of these songs describing nondescript struggles and hardships reveal much about the person writing or singing them.
Where I think he gets closer in terms of being more honest and vulnerable in his lyrics is on songs like “Alienated” and “Shoot at Will.” “Concrete Kisses” is the closest he comes to having an out-and-out country song on the record, at least lyrically. I think the songs where there are multiple songwriters are better for having had the help, but I do wish we heard more of Zayn’s perspective, especially for this being a Zayn album. But even when he was much younger, perhaps with less inhibitions and less filter as part of the biggest pop group in the world, he never was a man of many words. Maybe it was because there were other bigger personalities in the band that were happy to talk and take up space, but it always seemed to me that Zayn was more quiet and reserved. On this album, it finally feels like he is able to express himself in a way I haven’t heard from him before, but I was left wishing there was even more. Coming away from this album, I don’t feel like I know any more about Zayn than when I did before.
My favorites are “Dreamin,” “Alienated,” “How It Feels,” “The Time,” “Something In The Water,” and “Fuchsia Sea.”
Hearing a former boybander is making an album with a country producer, it’s hard not to have preconceived ideas going into that album. But it sounded totally different than I was expecting it to, and not in a bad way. Despite taking inspiration from Chris Stapleton and Willie Nelson, and for all of Dave Cobb’s influence, I wouldn’t really call this a country album, but it is a refreshingly new sound for Zayn as an artist. I think the mix of his R&B background with Cobb’s folk production could become Zayn’s new signature style. The way this sound still has the R&B style that Zayn is so known for, but in a much more laid back way, particularly on the song “Grateful,” it gives the whole album a more mature and focused feeling.
If Zayn does decide to continue making music in this style, he’s already pointing to a few key artists that could really serve as guides as he navigates this sound. “My Woman” reminded me a bit of Jeff Buckley while “How It Feels” had a Sam Cooke quality to the vocal performance. Buckley and Cooke, while being unrelated artists, could be strong inspirations for Zayn to draw from for this new sound, should he choose to pursue it.
One surprise that really shouldn’t have been much of a surprise was of course Zayn sounds amazing vocally throughout the whole project. Obviously all the boys in One Direction were talented and being in the band gave him his start, but I almost think it was a disservice to Zayn to have him in that group. He was always drowned out, or not given very much to sing besides a high note after a bridge, and that boyband style never really suited his voice. But with the toned back instrumentation and production, his incredible voice really gets to shine.
Overall, I think this was a step in the right direction for Zayn and I think it certainly shows more consideration and artistry than his previous work. You can tell he really cared about making this record and a lot of that care can be felt throughout. But he’s trying out a new style and working with new collaborators, it takes time and maybe a few tries to really nail an idea or a vision. I hope the less than stellar reviews don’t discourage him too much because I really do think there’s something to a folkier, more contemplative Zayn, but I just want it to come from him, not a bunch of songwriters who aren’t him.
