Music

Album Review: Mind of Mine

7 April 2016

By Oisin

Released a year later to the day from the moment ZAYN left One Direction, his debut album Mind of Mine showcases his new adult-friendly sound which we first heard on the single ‘PILLOWTALK’. The album is decent, with ZAYN drawing on a number of different influences: Frank Ocean, The Weeknd, and Justin Bieber. However, rather than simply being inspired by these artists, ZAYN tends to imitate them.

ZAYN is a capable singer as songs such as ‘iT’s YoU’ and ‘sHe’ show, as his vocals nimbly flit between registers. ‘dRuNk’ also sees ZAYN unleash his falsetto to astonishing results. However many songs are forgettable, like ‘lUcOzAdE’ which is a chorus-less song full of indistinguishable lyrics. A particularly interesting track is the ‘INTERMISSION: fLoWer’, which ZAYN sings in Urdu, his father’s native language. It almost feels holy, as stripped back instrumentation accompanies ZAYN’s ethereal vocals. Hopefully he will explore music more like this in the future.

Overall ZAYN’s album is a mediocre debut with a few good tracks on it. Rather than being the new, polished ZAYN, Mind of Mine almost marks a milestone in ZAYN trying to discover his solo sound.

 

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