Former One Direction star Zayn has signed a new deal with Mercury Records in the US.
Music Week has confirmed that the UK affiliate will be Island Records. A new single is expected this summer, and his return was teased on Instagram.
Zayn Malik was previously signed to RCA for recordings.
Earlier this year, Malik signed to UTA for agency representation across music, film and television.
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Mercury relaunched last year as an imprint of Republic in the US.
“As soon as Zayn and I met, I knew we had to work together,” said label president Tyler Arnold. “I was blown away by the new music, but just as impressed by his vision, drive and spirit. We’re honoured he and his team have joined us at Mercury Records. We’ve got an incredible opportunity to tell the next chapter of his story together.”
"When Tyler first played me the music I was totally blown away," said Island president Louis Bloom. "I knew we at Island had to do everything we could to be involved. This is Zayn on top of his game and this next chapter is going to take him to the next level. Working with Nicola and Taryn at ZenKai management has been an absolute pleasure too and we are so excited for the world to hear what's coming!”
The new era for Malik is arriving at a time when his former bandmates Harry Styles, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson have reached No.1 in the UK with their most recent albums.
Malik was quick out of the blocks in terms of solo success. Having exited One Direction in 2015, he even beat his old group to No.1 in early 2016 with solo single Pillowtalk (1, 499,632 sales to date – Official Charts Company).
Malik’s debut album Mind Of Mine reached No.1 in March 2016. It has 139,080 UK sales to date.
Although he has registered multiple charting singles, his two follow-up albums failed to make a lasting impression in the UK. Nobody Is Listening peaked at No.17 in January 2021, while the accompanying single Vibez made the Top 50.
Nevertheless, Zayn still has 22.4 million monthly listeners on Spotify and his team will have big ambitions for his next campaign.
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