«Nobody is listening»: Zayn si mette a nudo

Zayn Malik returns two years after his last job with clear ideas. Anticipated by the songs Better e Vibez, comes out on January 15th Nobody is listening, his most personal project. Here the British artist deals personally with the entire creative and production process, managing to freely express his thoughts. With warm atmospheres that leave room for desire (yours or those who will listen is all to be decided), it focuses on the heart, between ballads of love and decidedly rhythmic pieces, which bring to life the sounds of R&B whatever the sound, in the various tracks.

To give love, to receive it, to show the soul. Zayn gets naked in front of an imaginary interlocutor, from the beloved to the listener, who can see all the imperfections, but try to love him anyway. (Quiet Zayn, it’s not difficult). It is a more serene Zayn. Aware. Mature. Thanks to his personal life, probably. New dad, very much in love with Gigi Hadid, knows exactly where he is and how he got there and that he was part of the most famous boyband in the world becomes a blurred memory.

Better, Outside, Vibez, Connexion, these four titles are enough to understand where an album born in isolation is headed, where even virtual “connections” have become fundamental (“call it a digital but physical connexion”) when what we need now are only good “vibrations”, looking for optimism at a time when there is very little for music. “Out”, because returning to breathe is what we need. To feel “better”. But if the request becomes “Leave myself outside or let me in”, we would like to reassure him: no one is going to leave you out, Zayn.

Careful production on a voice always in the foreground that remains the focus of this album of eleven, on digital sounds, precious beats, but also played guitars or acoustic pieces (River Road is a gem in closing) between mixtures that recall different cultures. Important meetings that become collaborations, from When Love’s Around con Syd a Windowsill with Devlin, the record opens with a clear mission statement. Calamity it is the track that starts spoken and clarifies that first of all this album was born for itself: “nobody is listening” becomes a chant but also the phrase that gives the title to the album. Nobody is listening, but just for now. Because this is one of the most anticipated albums of this 2021 and if Mind of Mine, his first solo album, made Zayn the first ever artist to top the charts in both the UK and the US in the first week of release and Icarus Falls has reached 5 billion streams worldwide in less than a year, one wonders what the record of this highly anticipated third album will be.

In the meantime, we say welcome back.

Opening photo © Nabil