Emerging from his slightly twangy fourth album, ROOM UNDER THE STAIRS, ZAYN returns to bombastic electro-pop on his fifth solo full-length, KONNAKOL. (The title—referring to the South Indian practice of creating percussion sounds vocally—honors the heritage of the singer’s father.) For the sonically grand and charismatically brooding album, the former One Directioner re-enlisted the Grammy-winning producer Malay, who worked with ZAYN on his first two albums—and added Rihanna’s “Stay” partner Mikky Ekko to the mix. Now a decade into his solo career and ensconced in the maturity of fatherhood, the pop idol comfortably flexes his musicality—and sexuality— across an often erotic thrill ride filled with reflections, hope, and questionable relationship choices. The pulsating electronica of “Used to the Blues” issues an invitation to wallow, and “Sideways” spends time mourning the past. ZAYN’s slick falsetto cautiously pleads for long-term happiness on “Side Effects,” but he turns around and defends one-night stands in the bouncy “Met Tonight” and evokes a threatening lilt of interrogation on the thunderous “Die for Me.” Famously the first of One Direction to leave the group, ZAYN knows where he stands in his artistic and personal endeavors. Just listen to “Blooming”: “’Cause I’m not scared of my shadow/’Cause the things that I’ve let go/Pick your card, which one you choosing?/That’s part of the illusion/When life falls to ruins/Is it dying or blooming?”