Zayn Malik Talks Daughter Khai, One Direction and the New Album

Text by ALEX HAWGOOD
Photography DENNIS LEUPOLD
Styling JAN-MICHAEL QUAMMIE

Zayn Malik has long known how to use his voice. His high, full-bodied tenor helped One Direction become among the best-selling boy bands of all time. One of the most visible pop stars of Asian descent outside Asia, he sang in Urdu, the lingua franca of Pakistan, in his 2016 solo debut "Mind of Mine." At Valentino's autumn-winter 2024 show, last January, he wore an outfit that read "We're so old, we have become young again" in large letters, perhaps a nod to the fact that, at age 31, Zayn Malik is now a pop veteran with a decade and a half experience in the public eye. His new album , "The Room Under The Stairs" , recorded over several years, mostly in the solitude of his farm in rural Pennsylvania, trades the refinements of the recording studio for a stripped-back acoustic sound, with lyrics confessionals on the difficulties of love and fatherhood and on the many existential questions that arise when entering the fourth decade of life. ( Malik has a three-year-old daughter, Khai, conceived with ex Gigi Hadid ). In one of his first interviews in years (last summer he was featured on Alex Cooper 's podcast "Call Her Daddy"), the singer talks about his daughter's budding vocal talent, his collaboration with legendary country music producer Dave Cobb (who has worked with Chris Stapleton, Brandi Carlile, Jason Isbell and others) and the peace of mind that comes from knowing that no one out there knows what they're doing.

L'OFFICIEL: You've spent the last few years writing the songs for your latest album at your home in rural Pennsylvania. What is your creative process like?
ZAYN MALIK: I spend most of my time in the studio: I built a kind of studio cabin. Even when I release a new album, I always think about a few years before. That's how this album was born. It overlapped with working on some stuff I was going to put on my previous record, “Nobody Is Listening.” I'm able to do this every day, because that's how I spend a lot of time here on the farm: relaxing and spending time with my daughter.

LO: Another creative space you share with your daughter is the vegetable garden.
ZM: Yes, I love gardening. I started doing this when I moved here about seven years ago. My crops are edible and usable. So it's fun to take her to the garden and show her, she knows what she can eat and what she can't. She's very interested. He loves raw vegetables. I find her munching on a piece of broccoli...

LO: Having lived in NY for twenty years, I have always found rural Pennsylvania to be one of the most beautiful landscapes on the East Coast.
ZM: I am an outdoor person and I fell in love with the landscapes and serenity. You have a lot of time to think about things. And when I discovered that my partner at the time was pregnant, I immediately thought that this would be an ideal place to raise a little girl, because there is a lot for her to do here. So, we spend a lot of time outdoors. She likes to go camping with me. Let's fish. She really likes it too, so it's fun. Hopefully we can create some great memories here.

LO: You said that living surrounded by nature allows you to be contemplative. I knew that from “What I Am,” the first single.
ZM: I think this is a common thread between all of us. We're not really sure about anything, you know? There's this crazy idea that everyone knows what we're doing when we wake up in the morning. The truth is, in reality, no one has any idea what is going on. We're all guessing. I'm crazy? Am I stupid? I believe most human beings feel this way.

LO: Well, certainly the lyrics "If I told you I loved you, would you say it was bullshit?" paints a whole world in a few words.
ZM: Oh, that line can be taken many different ways. I think that's the beauty of music. It means whatever it means to the person who is listening to it at that moment. For me, at that moment, it meant that I had overcome this situation. But if I told you I loved you, would you say it's bullshit at this point? It's funny that you chose those words, because I was listening to the song the other day and those are the words that stuck with me. I think many people can relate to these words, feeling in love with someone and not knowing if it's right to be in love with that person.

LO: It seems that most of the album was already sketched out before you started working with Dave Cobb, with whom you co-produced the album.
ZM: Talking to him I immediately understood that he is a musical genius. He understood just about everything, from the intention that drove me to do things to the emotion that needed to be called for, and he just played. It's been a pretty smooth process, our musical collaboration. He changed a couple of things and said, “Oh, do you mind if I put this here and change the order there?” . He's much more structurally and musically aware than I am. I'm just a kid out of school who guessed and sang karaoke.

LO: On the collaboration Cobb said: "This record removes distance, bringing its spirit directly to the fans."
ZM: That's a really poetic way to put it. The intention of the record - and why I made it the way I did - is to try to keep everything super-minimalist and raw, like it's a conversation with me rather than a glossy version of anything sounds appealing to the audience. For many reasons, in the past my music seemed a little glossy, like it was a little too perfect and computer-influenced. I never felt like I wanted to do anything like a performance. I'm not Justin Bieber. Not really my vibe.

LO: I know some songs are about parenting. Does your daughter ever come to the recording studio?
ZM: He doesn't go to bed anymore. He doesn't come to the studio, but he's starting to understand that Baba sings and Baba makes music. Whenever there is a song on the radio, he asks everyone, "Is my Baba singing?" But in front of me she gets a little shy. Khai already has a lot of natural abilities. I know, it sounds ridiculous because he's three, but his ability to retain language, especially when it's formatted in a musical sense, is incredible. She remembers every lyric to every song she likes. Remember chord progressions and notes. He can play songs that already have three or four notes. I can't wait to see what he can do when he grows up.

LO: Raising Khai surrounded by nature and music seems like a truly extraordinary way of parenting.
ZM: I really appreciate it. I'm just trying to keep her grounded and appreciate the Earth, rather than all the noise that comes with it.