Zayn Malik Announces New Album ‘Room Under the Stairs’
Zayn Malik is releasing his first album in three years in just two months. The “Pillowtalk” singer announced details of his upcoming fourth studio album Wednesday (March 13) on Instagram. Zayn, 31, titled his album Room Under the Stairs and revealed its illustrated cover artwork. With a blue side profile of his face, there is also a blueprint of a house being built within a forest.
The next few slides show the blueprints in color. Featured at the start of a room is a bunch of guitars and what looks to be a studio, with a monitor and desk chair. The last slide shows another angle of the same house but expanded with more rooms and a second floor.
Zayn Malik’s Announcement
Set for a May 17 release through Mercury Records, the album will mark Malik’s first with the label, which is also home to artists including Noah Kahan and Post Malone. The father, who shares daughter Khai with ex-girlfriend Gigi Hadid, will introduce fans to the album with its debut single, “What I Am,” set to drop on Friday, March 15. His last album was 2021’s Nobody Is Listening.
Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images
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Malik made a surprise appearance during The Tonight Show, interrupting host Jimmy Fallon’s monologue to drop off a very important piece of information. Wearing a leather trench coat, fans shrieked as he strutted to the host. He played a snippet of his album’s lead single and slipped Fallon a folded card. “Jimmy, look to your right for my album. My new single, ‘What I Am,’ is out this Friday.”
One fan commented on the late show’s Instagram: “HE SAID NOTHING AND LOOKED SO SEXY DOING IT OMG.” Another stated, “This is the most social thing he’s done in 5 year.” A third wrote, “Walked, served looks, promoted, left.” Another fan hilariously said, “zayn leaving without zaying anything is so him [crying emojis].”
Last week, Malik teased the project with a short video on Instagram. “I think the intention behind this album fully is for the listener to get more insight on me personally as a human being,” he said in the clip. “My ambitions, my fears… and for them to have a connection with that. And that’s why it’s so raw, you know? 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.”
At the end of the video, Malik crooned in what appeared to be a new song snippet, “If I told you I loved you, would you say that it’s f—ed up?” His caption repeated the lyrics.
Last month, Rolling Stone reported that Malik spent many years writing the upcoming album alone at his Pennsylvania home. As we reported last summer, the singer-songwriter said, “I’m doing a record I don’t think people are really gonna expect. It’s a different sound for me.”
At the time, he continued, “And it’s got some more narrative going on, like real-life experiences and stuff. My daughter’s mentioned in there a couple of times.”
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4. Bad Bunny
The “WHERE SHE GOES” singer and rapper will be on his Most Wanted tour, with 47 dates. His median ticket price is $661.01, starting in Utah at the end of February. Bad Bunny will also be making stops in nearly every state: Nevada, Arizona, California, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Minneapolis, Missouri, Illinois, Ontario, Michigan, Washington, D.C., New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, and ending in Florida on May 28.
