Zayn Malik recorded nearly 50 songs for his debut solo album.

Zayn Malik

Zayn Malik

The 'Pillowtalk' hitmaker admits it was a "nightmare" to whittle down the number of tracks to just 18 for his LP 'Mind of Mine' but is happy with the result as the songs he had chosen have "spoke for themselves".

He shared: "When I'd finally finished recording 'Mind of Mine', I realised I had put down 48 songs. I couldn't believe we had so many.

"It was a nightmare choosing the final list, especially because all the songs meant a lot to me, and I procrastinated as much as I could before making my decision. In the end, it all came together; the songs chosen for the album spoke for themselves."

And the 23-year-old singer - who is dating Gigi Hadid - also revealed some of his music has been inspired by the "more psychedelic stuff" from the Beatles.

Writing in an excerpt of his book 'Zayn' as obtained by Fader magazine, he added: "I'd been listening to a lot of tracks by the Beatles when I was working on it. I had really got into some of their more psychedelic stuff, like 'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds' from the 1967 album 'Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.'

"The piano chords at the start of 'Fool for You,' and the guitars, were inspired by the Beatles' sound ... I like to draw on the influence of all sorts of music and artists."

Meanwhile, the former One Direction star previously revealed he was relieved he was able to sing about sex after he left the boy band.

He shared: "Every lyric I've ever written has a story behind it. All the hard work that went into the creation of 'Pillowtalk' was worthwhile because, as soon as it was finished, I intuitively felt I was on the right path.

"It was a sick cut, nailing the exact sound I wanted to capture in my music. I was also able to sing about a subject that I hadn't really been able to go near while I was in One Direction: sex."

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