Genre: Pop/R&B Label: Mercury
Unpacking love, loss, and identity one stair at a time
ZAYN’s “Room Under The Stairs” is his fourth solo album and a significant departure from the previous ones. With themes such as love, career, and fatherhood, ZAYN presents himself in a more vulnerable way in this album. With the help of Dave Cobb, ZAYN blends blues, soft rock, and country in a style that is different from his own.
The album speaks on ZAYN’s identity, not only as a singer but as a father as well. Zayn welcomed his daughter into the world in 2020, with model Gigi Hadid. He speaks on the struggles with Hadid and the child they share on the track Shoot At Will, “When I look at her, all I see is you. "When you look at her, do you see me too?” He offers a particularly poignant reflection on his relationship with Hadid and their daughter. Other tracks highlight Zayn’s navigation of identity. Don’t take me for what I’m saying, just take me as I am, Zayn sings over the soft rock track, What I Am with How It Feels shows off Zayn’s beautiful and raspy vocals with a piano ballad amplifying the emotion.
As Zayn is trying to get a handle on his identity in relationships, he is also experiencing struggles the his identity in his career. With lyrics “like I’ve been dreamin’ present on bluesy track, Dreamin, and “Old rooms, new paint, still it looks the same. Sad thoughts, bad luck, with no one to blame” present on False Starts, he is searching for authenticity in the facade that sometimes comes with fame. ‘ Never fell for the same thing. They fell in love with the same things….Feedin' families, forget the fame. I'm doing it now for a second name” from The Time, and ‘I'm tired of the grey. I'm sick of the pain. I'm tired of the pain. I'm sick of the grey” from Fuchsia Sea grapples with the tension between love and fame that causes weariness and stagnation.
Love, in various forms, is another central theme in this album. Grateful, Stardust and Something In The Water celebrates being in love, with Zayn admitting, “I’m grateful for you” and “Got me drippin' in that old school love”. With a mix of R&B and Country, these three tracks follow the joy and freedom of love.
The emotions are high and low in this album. On the opposite end of the dial, Zayn shows how messed up the feeling of love is. With a heartwrenching lyric on Alienated, “Tried to disconnect my body from my soul” as well as tracks My Woman, Concrete Kisses, Zayn's reception of his love life is very...split, to say the least. On top of this, Zayn confronts the toxicity that comes with relationships. Within Gates of Hell (a song that is too upbeat to be a heartbreak song) and Birds on A Cloud accompanying each other (with the latter continuing the narrative of the former) Zayn isn’t shy to show his anger.
Ultimately, “Room Under The Stairs”, presents a complex and deeply personal portrait of Zayn. It’s not a perfect album- a few tracks kind of blend together, and some of the lyrics miss the mark. But, listeners will tell that Zayn poured his heart into this album. He’s trying something new with the more different genres, and it should go unnoticed. The album’s overall honest and musical experimentation offers a compelling glimpse into Zayn’s inner and personal lifestyle “Room Under The Stairs” a worthwhile, if imperfect, journey.
Pitchfork: 5.8/10
Metacritic: 69/100
My Score: 73/100
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