Following a high profile departure from One Direction in March 2015, Zayn Malik has confirmed the release date for his first solo single via Twitter. The tweet, containing a single uncaptioned image, showcases a provocative monochrome photograph of the singer, along with the title and release date. Pillow Talk is due for release on Friday 29th January 2016.
— zayn (@zaynmalik) January 24, 2016
Speaking to the Sunday Times, Malik revealed that the song is overtly sexual in content – a far cry from the family-friendly material One Direction are known for. He went on to divulge,
“Everybody has sex, and it’s something people want to hear about. It’s a part of everybody’s life, a very big part of everybody’s life! And you don’t want to sweep it under the carpet. It has to be talked about.”
Malik’s unreleased solo material has already caused a considerable amount of controversy; less than a week after it was announced that Malik had left One Direction, producer Naughty Boy tweeted a link to a song he and Malik had worked on together, which left many fans feeling indignant, and caused a public rift between Malik and One Direction member Louis Tomlinson. The track was quickly removed, and Malik has since stated that there is “no beef” between them.
After leaving the band, Malik openly admitted he was unhappy with the material that One Direction were producing, labelling it as “generic as f*ck” – much to the distress of their fanbase. The singer also lamented the lack of creative freedom he was given as a member of the band, and his preference towards R&B. In an interview with Fader in November 2015 Malik disclosed,
“There was never any room for me to experiment creatively in the band. If I would sing a hook or verse slightly R&B, it would always be recorded 50 times until there was a straight version that was pop”.
When asked about his upcoming solo material, he went on to say,
“I don’t feel like people really know what I’m going to give them musically. And once they hear it, I feel like they will understand me a little bit more, and they’ll understand why I did what I did, and why I left the band, and why I had to write this shit down”.
According to reports, Malik’s solo album is scheduled to be released with his new record label RCA Records in Spring 2016.
