Of all twenty-seven tracks on Zayn‘s latest album, Icarus Falls, “Satisfaction” seems like an unexpected choice for a video. It’s a heartbreaking, lonely ballad that interpolates the Rolling Stones classic “I Can’t Get No (Satisfaction)” to describe trying to move on from someone you still love. It’s a gorgeous track, but with the dozen or so singles Zayn released leading up to the album, picking “Satisfaction” as one of the only songs to get a video is certainly interesting.
But the gentle beauty of “Satisfaction” lends itself to gorgeous visuals. In the video, directed by Bouha Kazmi, a man is heartbroken over the death of his beloved. The man walks through the burning landscape of their home, holding her body, and reminisces about the time they spent together. Zayn only appears in the video for a few seconds, and most of the video’s runtime is devoted to the tragic couple’s story. The video starts with a quote from Zayn’s song, “Intermission: Flower,” from his 2016 album Mind Of Mine: “Until the flower of this love has blossomed, this heart won’t be at peace.” I won’t spoil the video’s ending for you, but if you’ve seen the movie Annihilation, it’s got a similar vibe.
Zayn also recently teased a tour for Icarus Falls on Twitter. The singer performed some short sets in support of Mind Of Mine, but has not performed a full-length show since 2014, when he was still touring with One Direction. Though Zayn has been open about his discomfort with the promotional cycle that many pop artists follow to sell their music, the singer told GQ last year that he will tour for this album. According to his recent tweet, he “cannot wait to get onstage” and share “Satisfaction” and the rest of his solo material with fans.
Fuck me, I can not wait to get on stage ! Mans got tunes that bang for days ! Haha feelin ready 🤣😎
— zayn (@zaynmalik) January 5, 2019
Check out the video for Zayn’s song “Satisfaction” above.
