Zayn - Mind Of Mine (Album Review)

Zayn Malik jumped off what ultimately became a sinking ship with One Direction. The unstoppable boy band sprung a leak when Zayn departed, announced their break-up (or hiatus), and even lost number one first week out to their rival Justin Bieber's album Purpose. While One Direction was leaving the limelight Malik had already jumped ship and was working on what would become Mind Of Mine. One look at the artwork screams Lil Wayne's Tha Carter III and after one listen to the first single "Pillowtalk" you can see and hear that Malik's post 1D direction is going to be different.

Much like Bieber's Purpose and Timberlake's Future Sex/Love Sounds Zayn's Mind Of Mine pushes the artist into more mature and experimental territory than his boy band teen angsty past. Mind Of Mine searches to be much more mature. Just check the lyrics on "Pillowtalk" where Zayn throws out quite a few obvious references to rather mature behavior. The sound and style of this album is much more dark and brooding. It's similar in nature to something that you would hear from R&B artists like The Weeknd. The influence is very evident on a track like "Take It Off" which is heavily steeped in The Weeknd influence in both beat style and vocal delivery. Malik's vocals and lyrics are no longer shrouded in kid friendly anthem nature. Instead he's able to explore different sides and style of his voice. He's much more brooding vocally than he's ever been. Lyrically he pushes himself, maybe too far at times, to escape the lightweight lyrics of 1D. He's successful on most fronts with this album. This is a really cohesive listen and the songs are all fairly strong.

With boy bands it's often times who can strike first after the group's separation, but that first strike has to be successful. There's no doubt in my mind that former 1Der Harry Styles has his sights set on being 1D's Timberlake. I've always thought he would be the one to stick out after a break-up. Malik's early departure from the group has allowed him to break past the 1D break-up drama. This paired with the very good music he's presenting on this album shows that he may just be the one to be the standout from the group in the long run. This is a well rounded and all around very successful debut solo album.