Zayn’s ‘KONNAKOL’ promises a lot and delivers little

On his fifth solo album, KONNAKOL, Zayn attempts to take his musical influences in a different direction but ultimately falls short of landing anywhere new. Known as being a part of One Direction, Zayn has spent the last decade putting out R&B inspired pop records. His past works are occasionally catchy but more often than not lacking in inventiveness.

Prior to its release, the album was billed by Zayn as a departure from his previous works. He also claimed that the album would be a nod to his South Asian heritage and familial roots. The title itself directly refers to a traditional South Indian Carnatic music technique. One that involves performing complex vocal percussion through specific spoken syllables. For Zayn, though, the title carries a deeper personal meaning. 

“A sound that holds the reverberation of a time before words existed,” reads his website’s product page for KONNAKOL, reflecting a deeper understanding of who he is.

Despite KONNAKOL’s often-mocked, “Animorphs” adjacent cover art, the prospect of new sounds and inward-facing song writing paired with Zayn’s vocal chops gave fans a lot to be excited about. Unfortunately for them, KONNAKOL feels unfocused. It feels pieced together less from South Asian musical influence and more from mainstream pop trends that outstay their welcome.

The opening track “Nusrat,” which takes its name from the late Qawwali singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, is a punchy opener that doubles as the album’s standout track. It comes the closest to reflecting the album’s supposed Carnatic concept with layered vocal syllables that back the track’s instrumentation. These ideas twinkle in the background, taking a backseat to a pop chorus sung over drums that feel lifted from a The Chainsmokers cut.

For many of the tracks, Zayn has co-producer credits, an impressive feat that marks a step forward for the singer. Yet, most of the production feels pulled directly from his earliest work, echoing the polished alt-R&B sound that defined 2016-era Zayn. This reversion makes sense given the return of producer Malay, the main collaborator on  Zayn’s debut Mind of Mine. The similarities between the two works feels less like continuation and more like a step backwards for the singer.

Lyrically, Zayn never arrives at the deeper, more inward understanding of self at which the rollout proposed it would. Instead, the song offers listeners quarter-musings regarding sex and love lost, topics that have dominated Zayn’s previous songwriting. There’s only so much KONNAKOL can say about sexual desire before it begins entering laughable territory.

On “Used to the Blues,” a track whose vocals are unashamedly pulling from the sounds of Bon Iver, Zayn fails to write lyrics that inspire the sort of gut-wrenching self-reflection that makes Bon Iver’s music great. When Zayn croons “karma gets a hall pass, evil finds a way in,” and “cigarette don’t hit mе like it used to, I got used to thе blues,” it feels less like serious self-reflection and more like a middle school poetry exercise.

It’s disappointing to find that nowhere on KONNAKOL does Zayn address any of the recent controversies surrounding his life. Zayn was accused of shoving and shouting at his then-girlfriend Gigi Hadid’s mother in 2021. He pleaded no contest to harassment and never directly admitted guilt. A few days after KONNAKOL released, reports came out about a punch Zayn threw at former bandmate Louis Tomlinson. The incident took place during the filming of the now-cancelled Netflix docuseries that would have followed the former One Direction singers as they went on a “spontaneous adventure” across the United States. Just before that news broke, Zayn took to social media to post a photo from a hospital bed, thanking his fans for their support.

On the album the singer fails to offer much emotional weight in a way that feels sincere anywhere on KONNAKOL. Sonically and lyrically, he refuses to go anywhere beyond the surface-level.

Much like the recent release of his former bandmate Harry Styles, Zayn’s fifth album is music that carries false promises. Despite announced commitments to implementations and homage to the sounds of other genres, listeners are met with an experience that is akin to staring at a wall and waiting for the Kool-Aid man to burst through it, just to realize 45 minutes later that he never will.