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Five years have passed since SZA released her debut album, “Ctrl,” which made her the It Girl of R&B. Since then, she has had hit collaborations with Kendrick Lamar (2018’s “Black Panther” single “All the Stars”) and Doja Cat (2021’s Grammy-winning “Kiss Me More”), but the wait is finally over for her sophomore set, “SOS,” which was released on Friday — just days after the singer’s “Saturday Night Live” appearance last weekend.
Seven highlights of one of the most anticipated albums of the year are provided below.
“Kill Bill”
“I might kill my ex, but I still love him,” coos SZA on this midtempo jam that, although referencing the 2003 Quentin Tarantino bloodfest, expresses the conflicting sentiments we all have about that jerk we just can’t let go of.
Last weekend, SZA appeared on “Saturday Night Live” before releasing her new album “SOS.”
“Blind”
“I ain’t no Julia Stiles/This ain’t no last dance/Way past it,” SZA sings, making yet another movie allusion, her time to 2001’s “Save the Last Dance,” on this acoustic guitar-laced breakup lament.
“Gone Girl”
Is SZA pursuing a career in film? Because, for the third time on “SOS,” she makes a clear cinematic reference, this time to the 2014 thriller starring Ben Affleck. Over a melancholy beat, she sings about her desire for personal space: “Squeezing too tight, boy, you’re losing me.” In doing so, she flips the script on the dudes.
“Spirit within the Machine”
Never more so than on the scary electro-soul of this vibe-out with alt-rock breakout Phoebe Bridgers, “SOS” has a frightening mood.
The latest album by SZA, titled “SOS,” features collaborations with Phoebe Bridgers, Travis Scott, and Don Toliver.
Images from Getty for Global Citizen
Nobody grasps me
SZA has a Taylor Swift moment on an acoustic-guitar ballad that displays the unadorned delicacy of her vocals and veers from funk to folk. At her most vulnerable, when she has nowhere to hide, you really get her.
“Shirt”
This track’s boom and skittering bounce is the type of mesmerizing hip-hop that fits SZA as well as “comfort in my misdeeds.”
“I Hate U”
As she confronts the psychedelic truth of being “trapped in the deception of us,” SZA walks a fine line between love and hate.
»Seven reasons why SZA’s new album ‘SOS’ was worth the wait«