Here's Zayn Malik and he's all grown up

Zany Zayn Malik has thrown off his boyband shackles and he's at pains to let you know. His debut single, Pillow Talk, is a slowbanger about slow banging. "We'll be in bed all day," he sings, "fucking and fighting... It's a paradise and it's a war zone."

The video is suitably explicit - full of thrusting breasts and soft-focus snogging with his current squeeze Gigi Hadid. You can't help but view it through the prism of One Direction's carefree video shenanigans. This represents everything Zayn was told he couldn't do for the last six years, and he's not holding back.

Crucially, it never comes across as petulance. This is the sound of steam escaping from his internal pressure cooker. And Zayn, a man who seems to take himself very seriously, has clearly poured his heart and soul into the song.

And what's it like? Pretty damned good, actually. Textured, sophisticated and seductive, it wouldn't sound out of place on a sex-era Janet album. A solid 8/10.


PS: Zayn's interview with Zane Lowe - live from Bradford football stadium - is a good listen. The bit where he talks about his recently-departed grandmother will bring a tear to your eye. You can hear it on the Apple Music site.

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Listen: Massive Attack - Take It There

Rihanna wasn't the only one to emerge from hibernation today. Bristolian hip-hop godfathers Massive Attack also awoke from a six-year slumber with an EP of new material, Ritual Spirit, which features collaborations with Young Fathers, Azekel, Roots Manuva, and Tricky.

Tricky's track also comes with a video, directed by Hiro Murai. Like the song, the droning, guitar-heavy Take It There, it's menacing, intoxicating, unsettling, foreboding... In other words, everything you'd want from a Massive Attack single.


Massive Attack also plan a second EP (co-produced by Daddy G) later this spring, followed by a full album.

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I listened to the new Rihanna single so you don't have to

Rihanna's new single, Work, has just premiered "on top 40 radio around the world". It's a sparse, minimal, dancehall-inspired tune. More subtle than We Found Love or Bitch Better Have My Money, but instantly memorable nonetheless.

If you missed the premiere you can play or purchase the song (a duet with Drake) on Tidal - the streaming service Rihanna reportedly has a 3% stake in [Update: It's now on iTunes, too, where it's billed as having "a love-at-first-listen hook fuelled by Auto-tune magic"].

But if you can't be bothered to sign up for that, here's a blow by blow account of the first track from the long-delayed #ANTi album.

0:00 We open with a supine bassline. It's sparse. It's slinky. It's a mid-tempo Rihannabanger.

0:10 Heeeere's Rihanna! "Work, work, work, work, work, work," she sings.

0:12 Furthermore, she adds: "I’mma work, work, work, work, work, work."

0:15 "You see me do me dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt," Rihanna continues.

0:17 In conclusion, she notes: "There’s somethin’ bout that work, work, work, work, work work."

0:19 So far, it's a lyrical masterpiece.

0:23 At this point Rihanna starts to sound a little woozy. Maybe she needs a rest after those first 13 seconds of vocal effort.

0:34 Great lyric >>> "Nobody touch me in the righteous / Nobody text me in a crisis."

0:46 Amazing flute motif arrives.

0:53 Rihanna pronounces "foundation" as "fownd-ay-she-yawn". Love that Bajan accent.

1:04 Oh, the "work, work, work" bit is the chorus.

1:22 But now she’s just singing "nah, nah, nah". It's not like the lyrics were difficult to remember in the first place.

1:31 Muted steel drums prove Rihanna is "on trend" with the “tropical house” sound.

2:07 Rihanna has become so drowsy that "work, work, work" is being pronounced "weh, weh, weh". The poor lamb is exhausted. Someone get her a blanket.

2:11 Here's Drake. He sounds like Drake (ie monotonous).

2:31 Nice harmonies here.

2:47 Guitar solo!

2:48 Only joking.

2:39 Although any kind of musical development would be welcome at this point.

3:01 Repeat chorus to fade.

3:26 I'm going to listen to this again.

Overall, I'm giving it an early 6/10 (ratings out of 10 may go up as well as down). It's a confident, if slight, scene-setter for the album - but one I expect will be eclipsed by the second single.

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Goodbye, One Direction, you were better than the average boyband

Squeaking in just before Zayn Malik's new single gets its world premiere, here's the video for One Direction's "final" single, History. I mean, technically they're on hiatus and are definitely coming back in 18 months. But no-one really believes that, do they? I mean, this song might as well be called "FIN" and end with all of the band being pushed into a reservoir by a crazed fan.

Still, the video is a nice exercise in nostalgia - full of black and white footage of the band gadding about in their X Factor days, and blinking, bewildered, as a million girls soil themselves at their stadium shows.

In fact, it makes me realise what a welcome presence One Direction have been in the pop world for the last six years. They never tried to be edgy or controversial, crafting a burnished synth-pop sound that was a gratifying departure from the ropey R&B of other boybands. Not once did they sing about "da club". And, almost until the end, they looked like they might actually be having fun.

While they never used their undeniable clout to rewrite the pop rulebook, a la Girls Aloud, they nonetheless created some great singles (What Makes You Beautiful, Story Of My Life, Steal My Girl) and only one real abomination (that pointless cover of Blondie's One Way Or Another).

Still, their popularity always outweighed their material, so it's fitting that they are closing their career with an ode to their fans - "the greatest team that the world has ever seen". It's a perfect swansong, and one that takes its cues from Take That's masterful Never Forget.

Here's looking forward to 1D's spin on Patience in 2026.

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Video: Oh Wonder - Lose It

London alt-pop duo Oh Wonder narrowly missed a place on my Top 10 albums of 2015 - but their debut album remains a late-night favourite at Discopop Towers.

Now, they're releasing my favourite track, Lose It, as a single. To celebrate, Anthony West and Josephine Vander Gucht have made their very own episode of Beadle's About.

"We invited five dancers to audition for the video," they explain, "but what they didn't know was that they actually had starring roles!

"The dancers were truly losing it, in every sense of the word. And it was magical to watch..."

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PJ Harvey returns and 13 other songs you may have missed

A long-delayed return for a regular discopop feature, rounding up songs that have slipped under the radar in the last seven (or in this case 21) days.

Here we go, here we go, here we go now.

1) PJ Harvey - The Wheel
Four years after Let England Shake, PJ Harvey is still looking into the effects of war. This track was inspired by a visit to Kosovo, and references the thousands of children who disappeared during the conflict there. It opens with a squall of guitar and saxophone, but gives way to a lithe melody, underpinned by handclaps and a tribal drumbeat. Truly brilliant.




2) Grimes - Hate v Maim
Frankly, Grimes's squad looks a hell of a lot more intimidating than Taylor Swift's.




3) Spring King - Who Are You?
Manchester's Spring King were the first band to be played on Zane Lowe's Beats 1 show - and you can see why. This infectious, spritely indie-pop is the opening first track if you're making someone a mixtape this weekend.

Fun fact: The saxophone solo is played by the bassist's dad.




4) Laura Mvula - Overcome (ft Nile Rodgers)
Simply stunning. I can't recommend this highly enough.





5) Omarion - I Ain't Even Done (ft Ghostface Killah)
Silky rhymes and a laid-back flutestramental - this is a perfect throwback to the Wu Tang sound. Omarion calls it "high level vernacular" and "a generational victory". Well, quite.






6) Selena Gomez - Can't Keep My Hands To Myself
I mean I could but why would I want to?




7) Bryson Tiller - Don't
Kentucky-born Bryson Tiller recorded this bruising R&B jam in his living room, then watched it rack up 17 million Soundcloud plays in 10 months. Soon, Timbaland and Drake got on the phone and co-signed him to a record deal; and now the song is starting to get play on mainstream radio.

The lyrics see Bryson make an impassioned plea for a girl to leave an abusive relationship and settle down with him - but he rather undermines the gesture by singing about her "pussy" in the second verse.




8) Natalie Merchant - Tiny Desk Concert
A great big warm hug of a performance.





9) Låpsley - Love Is Blind
19-year-old Låpsley sounds older than her years on this mournful song "about someone being blind to the inevitability of a relationship ending". A gorgeous ballad, it showcases her husky contralto - and could easily be her breakout hit.




10) Rationale - Something For Nothing (Radio 1 Future Festival)
JUST LISTEN TO THAT VOICE.





11) Ekkah - Small Talk
I've been following Birmingham's Rebecca Wilson and Rebekah Pennington for a while now - and this vibrant synthpop banger is their first single after being signed to Sony / RCA. The video gives off a distinct Bananarama vibe - but the early, cool Bananarama, rather than the SAW-era cheese.





12) Ellie Goulding - Army
A touching ode to Ellie's best friend (and PA) Hannah. "The person who has seen me at my lowest and the first person I call in muffled sobs when something bad happens. We've been deliriously happy together, deliriously tired and deliriously sad together. I wanted to show our friendship for what it really is- honest, real, electric." Aw, bless.





13) The 1975 - The Sound
It's always a worry when a rock group "goes pop". Like dramatic actors trying their hand at comedy, they usually discover it's not as easy as it looks. (A case in point is Coldplay's new album - which is an excruciating exercise in forced jollity.) Luckily, The 1975 get it just right. The chunky 1990s piano sound and the ebullient arms-aloft chorus are designed to kick off at a hundred festivals this summer.




14) Adele - Carpool Karaoke
OK, you've probably seen this already - the YouTube count has reached 50 million in the space of a week - but it remains an absolute joy.

And that's your lot. Have a fantastic weekend!

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