It’s been a big few weeks for One Direction fans. Though the group’s been on hiatus since 2016, all five former members have been either firmly in the spotlight or making plans to step back into it. Harry covered Rolling Stone, Liam dropped a swaggering new song about getting money, Louis returned with a Britpop banger for the ages, and Niall recently promised that “it’s time,” suggesting a second album could be on the horizon.
Zayn, meanwhile, has kept a low profile for most of 2019. After dropping his Icarus Falls album late last year, the R&B crooner lent his voice to an update of “A Whole New World” for the new Aladdin movie, though based on his online presence, he’s largely been playing guitar, smoking, and growing his hair out.
That’s why his new appearance on a reworked version of SHAED‘s “Trampoline” is so exciting.
It’s not a remix, so Z sticks to the script here, not adding any additional verses but rather transforming the moody electronic tune into a duet with vocalist Chelsea Lee. In a statement, Lee calls Zayn’s “Pillowtalk” one of her favorite songs and noted how the group recruited him to hop on their track: “We reached out to Zayn’s team and a week later we woke up to a recording of Zayn singing ‘Trampoline’ a cappella in our Airbnb in L.A. Goosebumps.”
No matter if he’s dipping into Weekndesque R&B or soulful pop, Zayn seems to float effortlessly over whatever track he sings on. That’s why this new “Trampoline” fits; with its finger snaps and rickety rhythms, the song finds stabilization in the interplay between Zayn’s gilded voice and Lee’s edge, especially in the repeated lines about “when I dream of dying.”
SHAED are about to kick off a tour in just a few days; find the full of list of dates here. Listen to the new version of “Trampoline” above.
