The Indian pop prince’s long-awaited second LP is all about love

Armaan Malik is in love and we can hear it in every note of Only Just Begun—which, some might be surprised to learn, is only his second album and arrives nine years after 2014’s Armaan. The Bollywood and Indipop singer and songwriter got engaged to his long-time girlfriend shortly before its release and each track plays like a musical present to his fiancée. Working as always with his brother (composer Amaal Mallik), Malik gift-wraps his amorous offerings in a variety of packages, from the synth-pop-swathed “Mere Khayaalon Mein” to the power ballad-styled “Humnawa” and 1960s-tinted “TMMT”. All told, it’s one big, romance-fuelled rush.