Today: Mar 29, 2024

Album Review: Zayn’s ‘Mind of Mine’

Alex Palmieri – General Assignment Reporter

It seems since Zayn left One Direction, his career has been on an upswing. Late last month, he released his hit new album “Mind of Mine.”

The album was released March 25 as an R&B and alternative genre. The album consisted of the premiere hit song “Pillow Talk.”     

Damon Bickham, sophomore communications major, said he heard the song “Pillow Talk” and thought Zayn’s new style of music is upbeat. He added that Zayn can pull off this new type of style that he is doing.

“He’s doing his thing,” said Bickham. “The album is pretty good too.”

All of Zayn’s previous songs were with his old band, One Direction. Just a year after he broke off with his band, Zayn signed with RCA Records. This is his first album he released by himself, and it has taken off. With “Pillow Talk” already on the US Billboard Hot 100 list, Zayn looks to continue his recent success with his new album.

“Mind of Mine” seems like Zayn is trying to back off of the pop songs he previously recorded with One Direction and branch off into his own path creating somewhat of a mix of genres.    

Zayn released this album consisting of 18 songs, with the the major theme of this album essentially being ‘look what I can do on my own.’ Every song aside from one is not featuring anybody aside from Zayn. He is trying to prove what he can do and how capable he is of creating music by himself.

Though it seems Zayn is trying to prove to everyone what he can do on his own, he is also attempting to promote himself as a different type of an artist in the process. His new sound of music is enticing and has drawn comparisons to artists such as The Weekend and Usher. This is Zayn’s rebellion to the skeptics that said ‘he was a guy in a boy band.’ He is capable of making music on his own and establishing a fan base in the process.

Deja Daniels, freshman early childhood education major, said she loves the new album and would prefer if Zayn was a solo artist years ago. Daniels added Zayn is a lot of a better artist being by himself rather than with his old band.

“His style is so different now and it is so much better,” said Daniels. “It’s good that he branched off by himself because he’s a great artist in my opinion.”

Zayn’s “Mind of Mine” is heading for the number one spot on the “Billboard 200 Album Chart” in the coming week. With all of the recent success, Jared Poltrack, senior accounting major, said the album was well done. He said songs like “It’s You” and “She” were a couple of his favorite songs on the album.

“The songs are pretty good,” said Poltrack. “I like the new genre he is promoting. I like the new R&B type of sound that he’s trying out because it’s suited better for his voice.

Poltrack said when Zayn was on One Direction, it was too much pop. He said he likes the new Zayn and if he continues in this direction, Poltrack said he will continue to listen to him.

“It was definitely a solid album for his first solo shot,” said Poltrack. “Hopefully he keeps it up because this was a pretty solid album.”

Photo Credit: Eva Rinaldi

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