Singer and songwriter Zayn Malik, stage name ZAYN, has just released his fourth studio album Room Under the Stairs and it’s even better than his last three. RUTS is Malik’s most personal album and it’s a folk/country album unlike his last R&B albums.

RUTS consists of ten normal and five deluxe tracks on the “Z side” two of which are originally demos. Malik’s newest album shows a whole new side of him and everything is done with the goal of him liking his own raw and real music.

As his most personal album, fans can find references to different events in his life and people, while new listeners can just enjoy some new raw music. The name itself has a personal meaning behind it for Malik since he wrote the album in an actual room under the stairs in his house in Pennsylvania.  

ZAYN’s vocals never miss and this album is a great representation of what an amazing vocal range he has. In songs like “Fuchsia Sea” his impressive high notes shine through. While in “My Woman” his riffs are a blessing to the world’s ears. 

Malik has drawn inspiration from singer Chris Stapleton and was lucky enough to work with his producer, Dave Cobb to help bring his vision to life for RUTS. However, ZAYN didn’t want to recut any vocals and risk taking away the raw feeling of the album so Cobb helped bring the album to life without taking away Malik’s goal for the album. 

  “We [Malik and Cobb]  would converse over text and ‘take this out’ and ‘I don’t really like this’ and it was super seamless. He just seemed to get everything straight off the bat and he was like ‘I’d love to be involved in this. This is something that I really understand and I feel like I could elevate it to the place that I could show to the world’,” said Malik on the Zach Sang Show. 

The production and vocals aren’t the only things that make RUTS a hit. Malik’s lyrics are extremely personal and beautiful. For example, in his song “Grateful” he talks about how his daughter has changed his life: “I see your mother’s shine in your eye/I know that you’re mine and I’m cryin’”

Overall, Room Under the Stairs is a beautiful album that shows ZAYN fans what he’s been up to for six years, and you should definitely give it a listen.