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Zayn 'Room Under The Stairs' - Album Review

Hey everyone,


In today's post I will be reviewing Zayn's new album called 'Room Under The Stairs'. It's his latest album which features more of a R&B and slow melodic type songs on the album, which cover topics about his situationships with girls and also his past of dealing with drinking and remebering thoughts from the past.


Some of the initial tracks on album including 'Dreamin', 'What I Am' and 'Grateful' all have the common theme of discussing previous relationships or partners that he has had in the past. In the first song he says the line 'can't hold on anymore to these feelings' so maybe it's something he is trying to forget. In 'Grateful', he sings more of a positive set of lyrics by saying 'these days I'm needing no restriction' so maybe he is grateful for somebody who either came into his life, or went out of his life so that he could be by myself.


'Alienated' was one of Zayn's demo's for this album and he questions why he can't be left to drink alone, 'can you let me be intoxicated on my own...do I need to answer or right my wrongs', almost talking to himself about any issues or problems he has experienced. He also questions whether he can call a place 'home' if he doesnt recognise it, which shows that he may have been living in various different places and unsure which was his most secure place to stay. 'My Woman' also follows in the same theme as he said that since the Stone Age he has been 'living lonely on my own...I'm living blurred like the lines' which could be a play on words of Robin Thicke's 'Blurred Lines' but also suggesting that his last years have all been a bit of a blur.


The next song called 'Birds on a Cloud' has the annotation that he has had a heavy night the previous night and he's almost reflecting saying that he doesn't want to experience that again. He then adds the words 'please give me one more day of happiness, I need it' which could mean that he enjoys how he feels in the evening, just not how he ends up feeling when he wakes up. This could mean that he was spending a lot of time by himself and maybe he didn't have the support he needed. Following on from this, 'Concrete Kisses' follows a similar theme, where he said that 'all I wanted was a cup of coffee, I got forehead kisses when I fell last night on the street', almost praying for something nice and then having an accident. He explained that he is 'finding my way on the highway this year', almost stating that he will try and get off the drinks and substances, focusing more on himself than he ever has before. He also said that he sticks a 'middle finger' to those who don't believe him.


'The Time' was a nice track from Zayn, as he spoke about not forgiving himself for waking up late, and that the 'colours back in all my days'. This might be a self reflection that he is now living the life of an ordinary person. He said 'the lessons learned is what I've gained' and he goes on to say that 'feeding family, forget the fame' is most important to him, which is maybe why he is doing life a little bit differently to when he first came into the public eye.


'Something in the Water' was a remix of Lewis Capaldi's old track and it was nice to heaer familiar sounds, but it quickly transitioned into an R&B sounding song, where Zayn sings that he would 'spend the whole day until we woke up last night', giving almost an entire day of his time to somebody. He also explained that he had a lock on the door and now it was broken, suggesting that either somebody broke into the house, or he was intoxicated and may have broken this himself. Zayn adds the lyrics 'we don't say much until we speak in tongues, you got my heart doing things I won't do, but I'm not fighting it'. This could also mean that he has never felt this way before around somebody, and he now has that ability to trust again.


The final two songs on the album are 'Shoot at Will' which has the line 'when I look at her all I see is you, when you look at her do you see me too' which could be referring to a previous ex-girlfriend of Zayn's, and asking if they can see him, in her eyes' which is quite a nice vision that has been created for this line, almost like a glow of somebody else coming out of your soul. He adds that it feels like history is pulling me back', almost showing that ex still being a part of his body and soul although they're not in his life physically. 'Fuchsia Sea' is the last sone on the album where he explains that he is 'tired of the grey, I'm sick of the pain' which is potentially saying that he hasn't been feeling well or that his life is lacking colour. The colour 'grey' could also just be how he has been feeling over the last months or years. He also says that he can't 'keep my mind from dreaming about something else' so he might also be thinking about lots of things at the same time. Zayn also says 'how can you brean when you're broken to begin with' suggesting that maybe he had a difficult upbringing or life in the spotlight and he's questioning whether he has tried to be fixed and it's not worked so far.


Well, that's all for today's album review! It was a great album and it's great to see Zayn releasing more music. I believe he did a one off pop up show in London a few weeks ago, so let's hope he will go back on tour soon! Until my next music review...Goodbye!

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