Track by Track Review: Mind of Mine - Zayn
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Track by Track Review: Mind of Mine - Zayn

Ever since Zayn Malik left One Direction, everyone has been clamoring and waiting for what he will do next. Here it is and here's what I think of it.

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Track by Track Review: Mind of Mine - Zayn
genius.com

Zayn Malik left One Direction over a year ago, and with that pushed for a new solo career, much like Justin Timberlake did post-NSYNC. He first released his track "PillowTalk" and received critical acclaim for this new, more mature sound. With that, there were high expectations for his debut solo album “Mind of Mine”, and people waited on the edge of their seat for this album. Now it’s here and I think it’s time to delve into this album and see if he reached the high bar set for him.

TRACK 1 – Mind of Mindd

This track, being only about 57 second long is meant to be an intro and pretty much does its job of preparing you for the album. This track features a lot of reverb and echos with Zayn singing lines like “Open up and see what's inside of my, my mind”. There really isn’t anything spectacular about this, although there shouldn’t be, as it is less than a minute long. It’s an intro and no one should be expecting a new musical experience in such a short amount of time.

TRACK 2 – PillowTalk

This was the lead single for “Mind of Mine” and as stated before has much acclaim for it. Zayn wasted no time letting us know that he has broken the chains that One Direction had him under, as this song is all about sex. The chorus features Zayn belting out the lyrics “So we’ll piss off the neighbors” and “Yeah, reckless behavior, a place that is so pure, so dirty and raw”. This song is all about getting down with someone you love, showing off the lovey dovey side of things with “I love to wake up next to you”. Overall this was a great track, it’s simple, and it works. Everything about this track is solid from the lyrics to the instrumental in the background. It’s a great song to the ears and will make you want to listen on repeat. This track made me personally excited for “Mind of Mine” and it proves itself to be one of the best on the album.

TRACK 3 – It’s You

“It’s you” starts with a very soft, and very slow 808, which honestly makes it almost sound like a gospel song. Zayn comes in softly singing the lyrics “She got, she got, she got her own reasons for talking to me and she don't, she don't, she don't give a f*ck about what I need and I can't tell you why because my brain can't equate it”. The chorus shows off his vocal range as he sings “it’s you” repeatedly. This is also a very nice sound song to the ears. It is almost like a lullaby that you can drift off and fall asleep to, and not in a boring way, in a relaxing way. It further strays away from the pop sound of One Direction and moving towards a full RnB sound. This song is comparable to a Frank Ocean style of RnB, which makes sense as it was produced by Malay, who produced Frank Ocean’s album “Channel Orange”. This song is also completely different from “PillowTalk” and shows that he can have these mature lyrics without sex. This is a great track and is Zayn showing off what he can do.

TRACK 4 – Befour

“Befour” is a very different song from the past 2, giving a more funk-driven RnB sound, which is completely different from the slow, simple RnB sound given from “It’s You”. This song is about the mental issues Zayn was having towards the ending of his career in One Direction during their promotional tour for their album “four” (which also seems to be where the name of the song derives). The lyrics are well…sad. Lines like “I don’t drink to get drunk” and “Time for me to move on, so many hours have gone”. You really see how he was feeling and how he was not satisfied with his life. This song is catchy, and overall another great track. It adds another sound to the album’s repertoire and perpetuates the fact that Zayn has become a very well-rounded musician.

TRACK 5 – She

This is where the album starts to take a bit of a dip. While this album has a lot of amazing tracks, there’s also a lot of forgettable ones, as “She” is. It might not be a bad song, necessarily. It is just kind of bland. “She” shows off more the funky RnB that he has adopted and has catchy lines like the chorus’ “She wants somebody to love” and it isn’t really a chore to listen to. It just isn’t really a song that shows anything more, or grabs the listener’s attention. It’s just another track that may be in your head but otherwise will be forgotten in the albums overall message.

TRACK 6 – Drunk

Again, we just get another forgettable track. It goes back to the soft, slow RnB song and focuses on looking back on a summer love Zayn had. None of these songs seem to be a chore, they just don’t reach that high bar that the first four songs set. It’s a repetitive song and just doesn’t really make me want it on repeat. If he wasn’t constantly saying the word “drunk” you might just forget the name of the song.

TRACK 7 – Intermission: Flower

This is another short song that clocks in at about a minute and a half. I personally don’t find myself being drawn to this track either. The track itself is a raw sounding acoustic recording with Zayn singing Urdu, his father’s native language. While this track is sung passionately and gives an homage to Zayn’s heritage I just can’t really find anything of substance musically.

TRACK 8 – Rear View

“Rear View” is…alright. It is a decent song, and again it just doesn’t reach that bar that the beginning of the album set. These past four songs seem to be some filler. Don’t get me wrong, they aren’t bad songs and musically Zayn doesn’t make any bad choices. They are just bland and some might say boring. There isn’t much to say about these songs because of that. They are just...there.

TRACK 9 – Wrong (Feat. Kehlani)

Honestly, there is nothing about this song that I do not enjoy. This solidifies itself as one of the best songs on the album and Kehlani elevates it further. The beat is addicting and satisfying, the lyrics are passionate and catchy. Kehlani and Zayn singing the chorus “You’re looking in the wrong place for my love” is amazing, and leaves you in awe of how great of a track it is. This singlehandedly lifted the album back up after the lack four tracks leaving the listener a bit disappointed with how the albums message has turned to.

TRACK 10 – Fool for You

“Fool for You” strips away every 808 and beat in favor of just a piano and some drums. It’s stripped down and shows off Zayn’s amazing vocal talent. When you hear him yell out “I’m a fool for you” it’s hard not to be impressed. Zayn pushes a Beatles pop-esque sound and adds an RnB twist. This song is one of my personal favorites and will have you no doubt screaming the lyrics along with him.

TRACK 11 – Bordersz

In the home stretch of this album Zayn keeps everything slow coming after “Fool for You” which makes this a very relaxing song, in a comparable way to how “It’s You” was. Zayn sings lyrics and soft, yet passionate way. This is a simple song, but Zayn seems to enjoy the “less is more” technique, which makes it very easy on the ears and a very pleasant experience. The chorus adds in a head-bobbing drum beat in that makes this already great song better. The song is catchy, and will have you listening over and over.

TRACK 12 – Truth

Truth is another song reminiscing on his days in 1D, and how he wasn’t very fond of them. It was no secret that Zayn did not genuinely enjoy being in One Direction, like in the song “BeFour” and even the fact that this album has no comparable qualities to his former boy band at all. So this song’s lyrics obviously contain lots of depth and a look into Zayn’s mind, yet the lyrics are surprisingly simple and repetitive. That does take some points away from the song, but it a nice mix of more funk, and musically is actually pretty solid. As said before, the lyrics do seem to take away some of the redeeming qualities, so instead of being a great song, this is just an alright one.

TRACK 13 – Lucozade

This song is a major look into the mind of Zayn. The song says that he’s drunk, and he’s high and this seems like a rambling rant of an emotional, and inebriated person. It’s brilliant. The funky, head-bobbing synth makes this a great song to begin, but the lyrics of a drunk, passionate mess makes it even better. Not even to mention the great vocal talents that Zayn shows. This is a track that is intense and angry, which haven’t been showcased much on the album, so throwing that in at the end was a wise choice and leaves the listener hyped and impressed.

TRACK 14 – Tio

This is the final track on the album, and shows itself to be an outro of sorts. Mixing the slow synth, funk sounds, reverb, echoed lyrics, and vocal range from the 13 previous tracks bundled into one final period at the end of the album. The lyrics are full of emotion, while also going back to going all in on the sex. But despite this, I wouldn’t say this is the best song, not by far. It’s a good song, but something stronger should have been showed if he wanted to create a big outro for the world to hear. It just overall lacks the final punch and unf needed and, in my opinion, it is lumped in with the middle tracks.

FINAL THOUGHTS –

“Mind of Mine” was a solid album. It had a lot of solid tracks, but only 4 or 5 being simply brilliance. There is great songs, and there are good songs. The middle dip of boring, forgettable songs also brings the albums overall quality down, and its mostly due to their placement on the album. You start off with 4 amazing songs, then it goes down in quality immediately and leaves a weird feeling with the listener. Which turns what would be a great album into just a good one. For that reason Zayn’s debut only gets a 3.5/5 for me.

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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
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