Zayn takes the cover of Dazed magazine’s Summer 2016 issue, which hits newsstands on Thursday (June 16).

Here’s what the 23-year-old “Pillowtalk” singer had to share with the mag:

On getting Taylor Swift’s approval on his album Mind of Mine: “At Gigi [Hadid]’s house we briefly spoke and she told me she really enjoyed the album. It was nice to get some feedback. She said she thought I was cool and I kind of blushed a bit and didn’t know how to take it.”

On leaving One Direction: “I know that musicians are seen as one-sided people a lot of the time, but we do have other elements to us as well. I didn’t feel good. Do you know what I mean?… You need to be able to express what it is that you are. I’m free at last.”

On his love of writing: “I have always liked language and the way you can say a certain thing in a certain way and it can be perceived so differently by whoever is listening, because of whatever time they are at in their life.”

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