It’s been the week of Zayn Malik — a sentence that hasn’t been said since at least 2021. Last Wednesday, March 6, the former One Direction member shared an album teaser on his Instagram. The following day, he posted a snippet of his next single and confirmed it would be released on Friday, March 15. Earlier this week, Malik announced the song’s title as “What I Am.”

It all led up to today, March 13, when Malik announced Room Under The Stairs, his first album since January 2021’s Nobody Is Listening. Malik confirmed the release date will be May 17, and the album will be available to pre-order on Friday, March 15.

Last June, Billboard reported Malik had signed a record deal with Mercury Records, so Room Under The Stairs will be his first release since securing a new label home.

In the album teaser from last week, Zayn contextualized the forthcoming album, saying, “I think the intention behind this album fully is for the listener to get, you know, more insight on me personally as a human being — my ambitions, my fears — and for them to have a connection with that. And that’s why it’s so raw. You know, it’s just me writing this. I didn’t want anybody else to be in between me and the music, and the music and the people listening to it.”

This February 28 Rolling Stone report confirmed that Malik co-produced Room Under The Stairs with nine-time Grammy winner Dave Cobb (Brandi Carlile, Chris Stapleton, Lady Gaga).

“In working with Cobb — one of Nashville’s most accomplished and in-demand producers — Malik will explore new sonic territory and lean into pairing his unmistakable vocals with live instrumentation,” Rolling Stone shared. “The soulful singer-songwriter had spent several years writing the album at his home in rural Pennsylvania before enlisting Cobb’s help as a co-producer.”