Single Review: Zayn & Taylor Swift – I Don’t Wanna Live Forever

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Taylor Swift and Zayn team up for sensual Fifty Shades duet
You can say what you want about those Fifty Shades of Grey movies, but they do not hold back when it comes to the soundtracks. After Ellie Goulding had her biggest hit yet with ‘Love Me Like You Do’ which was used as soundtrack to the first movie, the makers now brought Zayn and Taylor Swift together to deliver the music to part two Fifty Shades Darker. Together they recorded the smooth and sensual R&B pop ballad ‘I Don’t Wanna Live Forever’. A surprising, but also surprisingly good collaboration if you ask me!

Zayn has been all over the radio this year with his outstanding debut solo single ‘Pillowtalk’ followed by the album Mind Of Mine, while he impressed critics with collaborations with Snakehips and M.I.A.. For Swift this is her first release as a performer since the incredibly successful album 1989, although she did recently write for Calvin Harris and Little Big Town.

Zayn opens the track with his sultry falsetto vocals over a bare beat. He subtly builds up to a chorus that delivers a strong hook. It is hard to get those “I just wanna keep calling your name, until you come back home” lines out of your head after the first listen, right!? In terms of style, this track is closer to the sound of Zayn’s debut album Mind of Mine which was released earlier this year. For Taylor this sort of R&B inspired sensual duet is mostly new territory, but fair play to her, the higher register of her vocals work well on this track. The track would have been more of an event if Taylor and Zayn would have had more hearable interaction on the song with harmonies and all that, because now it at times feels like they are just doing their own parts. It’s a minor detail in an otherwise strong pop song though. Be prepared to have this song warm you up over the radio for the next couple of months!

You can listen to the track on Apple Music.

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