Mind of Mine

It’s not a step forward, really, it’s a step to the side. There are still hints of the pop star Zayn was drowning out the RnB icon he wants to become.

As debut offerings often go, there’s a fervent desire on Mind of Mine to stretch so far and wide that the cohesiveness of the record is lumbered as a result. The tracklist could have been refined to ten good tracks (most of which are on the bonus edition).

His songs get to where they need to go, but they’re lacking in narrative, specificity... purpose, if you will.

Mind Of Mine is an impressive enough debut, with excellent, laidback production and assured vocals. It's lyrically stunted, it's too long, and the overall sound is not starkly original, but the subtle elements of South Asian sounds set a promising tone of fusion.

For all its inevitable ubiquity, this downbeat, low-lit album has the bonus of not being in your face at all.

In some ways, it works; the songs on Mind of Mine certainly skew towards more mature content and a sleeker, less bubblegum-y pop sound that's implemented expertly by producer Malay on silky smooth PBR&B-lite ballads like "It's You." It works less well on cuts like Kehlani collaboration "Wrong," which is gratingly heavy-handed with the Auto Tune--a problem that again rears its whiny head on "Fool for You."

He stumbles with tepid ballads like "It's You" and "Blue," but the record is saved by its more experimental moments--specifically, the warm, neo-soul track "Truth" and hypnotic Persian-infused intermission "Flower."

Lacking compelling hooks, a unifying mood, or a clear narrative, his debut is oddly inflexible and over-calculated.

His aim to dive fully into a nuanced direction is a good look, and even though it can be too much at times, his earnestness is a natural antidote to the sleazy misanthropic attitudes of Bieber or The Weeknd. There’s just not enough focus, and promise can only take one so far without differentiation from the artists you’re emulating.

Zayn sounds tentative when he’s venturing into lyrical territory beyond his former band’s purview, which compromises the album’s clearly wide-ranging aims.