SZA’s new album ‘SOS’: 7 reasons why it was worth the wait

SZA's much-anticipated sophomore album, "SOS," dropped on Friday.

It’s been 5 lengthy years since SZA launched “Ctrl,” a debut album that immediately made her R&B’s It lady. Since then, she’s had hit collabs with Kendrick Lamar (2018’s “Black Panther” single “All of the Stars”) and Doja Cat (2021’s Grammy-winning “Kiss Me Extra”), however the wait is lastly over for her sophomore set with “SOS,” which dropped Friday — scorching off of the singer’s “Saturday Evening Dwell” look final weekend.

Listed here are seven highlights of probably the most anticipated albums of the 12 months.

“Kill Invoice”

“I'd kill my ex/I nonetheless love him although,” coos SZA on this midtempo bop that, whereas name-checking the 2003 Quentin Tarantino bloodfest, captures the conflicted emotions all of us have about that no-good boo that we simply can’t stop.

SZA appeared on “Saturday Evening Dwell” final weekend earlier than dropping her new album “SOS.”

“Blind”

“I ain’t no Julia Stiles/This ain’t no final dance/Well past it,” sings SZA, making one more film reference — this time to 2001’s “Save the Final Dance” — on this breakup ballad that could be a imaginative and prescient of acoustic-guitar-laced magnificence.

“Gone Lady”

Is SZA angling for a film profession? As a result of for a 3rd time on “SOS” she makes a direct movie reference — right here to the 2014 Ben Affleck thriller. Singing about needing her area — “Squeezing too tight, boy, you shedding me” — over a moody groove, she flips the standard script on the dudes.

“Ghost within the Machine”

There’s a haunting ambiance to a lot of “SOS,” and by no means extra so than on the spooky electro-soul of this vibe-out with alt-rock breakout Phoebe Bridgers.

SZA’s new album “SOS” options collaborations with Phoebe Bridgers, Travis Scott and Don Toliver.

Getty Pictures for World Citizen

“No person Will get Me”

Veering from funky to folky, SZA has a Taylor Swift second on an acoustic guitar ballad that showcases the stripped-down sweetness of her voice. With no place to cover at her most susceptible, you actually get her.

“Shirt”

The growth and skittering bounce of this monitor is the form of hypnotic hip-hop that matches SZA just like the “consolation in my sins.”

“I Hate U”

SZA walks the skinny line between love and hate as she faces the trippy reality about being “misplaced within the lie of us.”