Bolder musical direction for Zayn Malik

ZAYN Malik is done sweeping things under the rug. AFP

Zayn Malik is done sweeping things under the rug. Away from the constricting confines of One Direction’s engineered pop-rock sound and wholesome image, the steel-voiced former member of the British boy band is boldly venturing into provocative themes and musical directions where few tweeners’ idols have gone before.

Over the weekend, “Pillowtalk,” Zayn’s scorching debut single as a soloist, has taken the charts by storm with a No. 1 bow on iTunes—in 60 countries!

READ: Zayn Malik breaks silence after split with One Direction

The “hot and humid” video that accompanies the song features his current girlfriend, Gigi Hadid, but it is reportedly about his former squeeze Perrie Edwards of Little Mix.

It is the carrier track of Zayn’s upcoming solo album, “Mind of Mine”—due March 25, exactly one year after he left One Direction.

The single, which is  about the “spiritual and physical duality” of sex, benefits from its slick and sultry R&B vibe and slow-burn allure, and the singer’s malleable pipes.

ZAYN Malik

Be forewarned, however: The song is neither for tweeners nor for the prude and faint-hearted. At 23, Zayn refuses to play coy about discussing sex because he says it’s “part of everybody’s life.”

But more than the song’s steamy subject matter, it’s a fitting metaphor about loving—and the pain and pleasure we alternately get out of it.

Being in a relationship requires hard work, the song muses: “Light and dark / In the place that feels the tears / The place to lose your fears / [It’s] a place that is pure, dirty and raw/ It’s our paradise—and our war zone!”