Photoshoots > Outtakes > Session 074

Read an excerpt of the article below. The transcript has been added to our Press Library, or you can read the interview at lofficielusa.com

With Room Under the Stairs, Zayn Malik is finally ready to talk.
Zayn Malik has long known how to use his voice.

His sharp, full-bodied tenor helped One Direction become one of the world’s best-selling boy bands of all time. One of the most visible pop stars of Asian descent working outside Asia, he sang in Urdu, the lingua franca of Pakistan, on his 2016 solo debut Mind of Mine. At Valentino’s Fall/Winter 2024 show last January, he wore a suit emblazoned with the words WE’RE SO OLD, WE HAVE BECOME YOUNG AGAIN in all caps—a wink, perhaps, to the fact that, at the age of 31, Malik is now a pop veteran with a decade and a half of experience in the public eye under his belt. (Ever the family man, he attended the Paris shows in January with his mom in tow.)

But on his new album, Room Under The Stairs, the solo artist reveals his most surprising act yet: himself. Written and recorded independently over six years, mostly from the seclusion of his farm in rural Pennsylvania, the record trades slick studio wizardry for a stripped-down acoustic sound, confessional lyrics about the messiness of love and parenthood, and the many existential questions that come with entering one’s fourth decade. (Malik shares a three-year-old daughter, Khai, with his former girlfriend, model Gigi Hadid.) In one of his first interviews in years (he appeared on Alex Cooper’s hit podcast “Call Her Daddy” last summer), the press-shy singer discusses his daughter’s budding vocal talents, working with the legendary music producer Dave Cobb (who has worked with Chris Stapleton, Brandi Carlile, Jason Isbell, and more), and the peace of mind that comes with knowing that no one out there knows what they’re doing.

ALEX HAWGOOD: You’ve spent the past few years writing songs for your latest album at your home in rural Pennsylvania. What is your creative process like working from home?

ZAYN MALIK: When I get time to myself, I spend the majority of my time in the studio—I’ve built, like, a cabin studio. Even when I release a new record, I’m always thinking a few years ahead. That’s kind of how this album was created. It overlapped with working on some stuff that I was going to put on my previous record, Nobody Is Listening. I’m able to do it every day, because that’s been how I spend a lot of time here on the farm—just relaxing and spending time with my daughter.

AH: Another creative space that you share with your daughter is your vegetable garden.

ZM: Yeah, I love gardening. I got into it when I moved out here, probably about seven years ago. And now I get to share that experience with her, because I’ve gotten a bit better at things. My crops are actually edible and usable. So it’s really fun to take her out to the garden and show her the vegetable patch and all the different things in the garden, you know, what she can eat and what she can’t. She’s really interested in it. She loves raw vegetables. I’ll just find her, like, munching on a piece of broccoli, which is a parent’s worst nightmare, you know? [Laughs.] Whatever way you can get veggies into your kids, right?