The first time I heard SZA’s debut album “Ctrl,” I was hooked. Granted, I was 13 years old, with dreams of mustering enough courage to utter a single word to any boy at all. As the middle child of three girls and the product of a single-sex education, all I really knew about boys was my dad’s strange obsession with leaf blowers and sounds of distant lacrosse sticks on the playground.
Still, I found myself attempting geometry at my desk while belting “Leave me lonely for prettier women / You know I need too much attention / For sh— like that” from “Supermodel,” the album’s first track. That’s what SZA’s music does, and continues to do: It makes a 13-year-old feel like a 20-something experiencing life-changing moments.
Now, as a confirmed 20-year-old with just a little more life under my belt, I still find myself turning to SZA for that feeling of feminine solidarity and comfort. SZA’s new album, “SOS Deluxe: Lana,” is a reissue of her 2022 album, “SOS.” Released December 2024, “Lana” consists of 15 new tracks, one feature and an addictive sound.
Both wildly current and long-lasting, “Lana” demonstrates SZA’s growth as an artist and an individual. This can be heard through her song “My Turn,” which dives deep into her solidified success from SZA’s 2023 triple platinum album. In the track, SZA speaks about a past love affair that ended on “not-so-good” terms. Despite the intense post-break-up pain, a feeling that she expresses in past songs like “Doves In the Wind” and “Supermodel,” SZA turns her story around and reclaims the experience. She belts, “My turn, I did the learnin’ / Your turn to do the hurtin’ / My turn, ’cause I deserve this.”
Recently, SZA spoke about this feeling in the December 2024 issue of British Vogue.
“I’m not identifying with my brokenness. It’s not my identity. […] Yeah, I experienced cruelty. I have to put it down at some point,” SZA said. “Piece by piece, my music is shifting because of that, the lighter I get.”
The lyrics of “My Turn” demonstrate SZA’s growth — a growth surely earned. As a dedicated listener, I feel good knowing that stains of the past eventually wash out.
Another reason why this album stands out is SZA’s use of samples both past and present. With satisfying analog synths and soft tempos, you can truly feel the lightness that SZA speaks of in the Vogue issue. This is especially true for her song “Kitchen,” my personal favorite on the album. Simple visuals — such as “dancing and kissing, the kitchen” — transport me to late-night moments with friends, all just too tired to make any sense. In these times, I feel like everything is going to be alright because I have my gals by my side. However, the beats and sentiments of “Kitchen” are not the only thing leaving me feeling relaxed and effortlessly bouncy: it’s also because of the music she samples.
“‘Kitchen,’ which makes a strong challenge for the title of SZA’s most luminescent song, turns the Isley Brothers’ ‘Voyage to Atlantis’ into what feels like an Alvvays ballad, its unfussy arrangement and hazy ambiance glowing with the luster of a full moon,” Shaad D’Souza wrote in a review for Pitchfork. “The chorus of ‘Kitchen,’ which flutters along like a piece of pollen on the wind, feels of a piece with music that’s more freeform and ingenious.”
Genius samples like this one turn the album, “Lana,” into something special. Another example of this can be heard in her song “BMF,” my favorite sample of the project. In this fabulous tune, SZA takes the beat from Bossa Nova legends João Gilberto and Stan Getz song “The Girl from Ipanema.” Bossa Nova, a branch of Jazz originating from Brazil, is a genre that I always turn to for deep breaths and solace. However, in “BMF,” SZA completely turns Bossa Nova on its side. With a body shaking beat and lyrics about a man who is “young and fine and tall and handsome,” SZA turns bossa nova into a total pop ballad. On platforms like Instagram and TikTok, this song resonated with thousands of love-stricken folks ready to show off their significant others.
I recently was speaking with senior Jessica Furstein, a fellow SZA lover and avid listener of “Lana.”
“No matter what, SZA just has a unique sound that I truly never get tired of listening to,” Furstein said.
I couldn’t agree with Furstein more. Throughout her career, SZA has been able to stay wildly current and simultaneously everlasting.
Even though I am now a college student who’s been kickin’ it for 20 years, SZA’s music reminds me that I have a whirlwind of experiences ahead of me. Sure, there’s guaranteed to be some heartbreak, hurtin’ and ups and downs as I get older. But, despite it all, I know that SZA will have my back no matter what — from the 20-somethings ’till forever.
