Zayn Malik’s debut solo single Pillowtalk has gone straight in at number one – and is the fastest-selling song of the year so far.

The former One Direction star’s racy track hit the top spot with combined sales of 112,000 – a figure that includes 4.97 million streams, according to the Official Charts Company.

And he celebrated first with a quick shade-wearing smiley face emoticon (which was liked 80,000 times no less), then he treated fans to an arty black and white snap of him and a friend in LA.

There were no excessive words of thanks and no digs at One Direction – just a nonchalant, cool picture with a friend. We’d expect nothing less of the new and improved Zayn.

Pillowtalk appears to mark a departure from the clean brand of pop produced by his former band, with the song featuring several expletives, while the steamy music video sees a blond Zayn, 23, kissing model Gigi Hadid.

Zayn Malik's video for Pillowtalk
Zayn Malik’s video for Pillowtalk (Zayn/YouTube)

Zayn fought off competition from Jonas Blue’s Fast Car, which is at two this week, and last week’s number one Stitches by Shawn Mendes is at three.

Rihanna’s Work climbs from 13 to four, and Justin Bieber’s Love Yourself completes the top five.

Craig David is at 10 with When The Bassline Drops – giving him his first top-10 hit in eight years, since 2007′s Hot Stuff (Let’s Dance) was at number seven.

Meanwhile, David Bowie, who died from cancer on January 10 aged 69, continues to dominate the albums chart, claiming the number one spot for a fourth week – but with a different album.

The late singer has become the first act to knock themselves off the top of the official albums chart in nearly six years, as his Best Of Bowie compilation – originally released in 2002 – has replaced his final studio album Blackstar at number one.

Michael Jackson was the last act to achieve this feat, following his death in 2009, when his The Essential retrospective replaced hits collection Number Ones at the summit.

David’s Blackstar is now at number two, and the last time any act dominated the top two positions on the chart was when Adele did it back in May 2011 with 21 and 19.

Midweek leader Sia is at three, Adele’s 25 is at four, while Justin’s Purpose is at five.

Further down, Rihanna’s long-awaited eighth studio album Anti is new at seven.