There are few venues in New York, or anyplace else for that matter, that feel as isolated from the outside world as Electric Lady’s Studio A’s live room. The curving area is filled with gleaming vintage gear, faded Persian rugs, and a cosmic, wall-sized painting, all designed to Jimi Hendrix’s specifications.
On this Sunday night in September, just after 9 p.m., the room’s sole occupant is a slight, strikingly handsome 24-year-old, whose unique combination of global fame and acute anxiety can make life outside of insulated creative oases like this one difficult, and who is currently kicked back on an overstuffed leather sofa, pulling meditatively from a joint and watching the smoke curl toward the sound-deaden ceiling.
Zayn Malik — who goes by his first name in his solo career — has spent the last nine months working on the follow-up to his debut solo LP, Mind of Mine, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 last spring and spawned the Billboard Hot 100-topping single “Pillowtalk,” which has racked up over 750 million YouTube spins.
With its Frank Ocean-Esque moodiness, bedroom vocals, and, with the exception of “Pillowtalk,” aversion to radio-friendly sonics, the album marked a distinct divide between Malik’s grown-up second act and his beyond-famous first. Since leaving One Direction, Malik has yet to tour, much less perform at a large concert.