Zayn Malik gave Billboard a taste of his forthcoming album when he invited them into the studio to chat about his work.

He then walked out of the room and never came back, only to offer a listen to two of his new tracks a few weeks later.

Zayning aside, there's a ton of new information in this cover story regarding Zayn's ambitions, and the inspiration he derives from working with artists he admires. He opened up about his relationship with Gigi Hadid and revealed that she brings snacks to the studio when he's recording (d'aw). He addressed his relationship status with his former One Direction bandmates, and confirmed that they're not friends, and definitely not enemies, but definitely not talking, either: “Our relationships have definitely changed since we were in a band together, but I think that’s just life. Everybody grows up; two of the guys have got kids now. But no, I don’t talk to any of them, really.”

He goes on to express his interest in breaking into movies (he's into the idea, but the project should surprise people, and “It would have to be a good script and something that was a bit ­different, like an art movie”) and the benefit of working with Taylor Swift ("I get to let her fans know that I’m doing this kind of music, and she lets her fans know she likes my kind of music — there’s no opposition, for real").

But when Zayn offered to play more songs from the album at the end of the hang session, he got up to search for his manager to get the tracks — and that was it! From the feature:

Near the end of our time together, I ­gently float an idea: “If there are any songs you’d feel comfortable playing for me,” I ­suggest, “I’d love to hear them.” Malik seems totally into it. “Yeah, of course, man,” he says emphatically. “Cool. I’ll play some stuff.” He gets up from the sofa and heads to the ­studio door. “I’m just going to get the songs off my manager.” I tell him I appreciate it. “No worries, bro,” he says, before he disappears through the door. And then, in probably the most Zayn-like move of the night, he never comes back.

Thankfully, he did play two tunes for Billboard in between cuts of real talk a few weeks after the meeting, and notes that the new stuff capitalizes on the vibe of Mind of Mine and "feels directly aimed at pop fans’ ­pleasure centers."

We're glad that Zayn eventually resurfaced with the songs, and can't wait until we hear them ourselves — in 2018, when he's apparently dropping the album.