By: Aydin Akyol
SZA’s sophomore album SOS became a worldwide wonder hitting numbers that were never hit before on the charts as well as being awarded album of the year by multiple newspapers and music companies. From tracks such as “Kill Bill” with SZA wanting to kill her ex to “Nobody Gets Me” reminiscing the loss of a relationship with a loved one, she reached everyone’s hearts and created a masterpiece which put SZA in a place where fans wanted more. 2 years after the release of SOS, SZA has finally decided to release the deluxe album; Lana. Although a deluxe, this “Album” contains 15 heavily written tracks produced to perfection which fully encapsulate SZA’s healing process after the rough story told through SOS. This is my personal review on the album and I have been so excited to share it with everyone.
“No More Hiding” 2:43 (6.5/10):
This song’s production is very peaceful and content, almost feeling like you are stepping outside of your home after a rough storm seeing the rays of sunlight shine through what’s left of the clouds. Lyrically, this song is definitely more straight to the point about acceptance of oneself and how you kind of just need to let go of all of the temporary struggles in your life because they ultimately don’t matter in the long run. The song quite literally ends with a fade out of SZA repeating to herself on how she needs to let go. Same girl, same.
“What Do I Do” 2:47 (7.5/10):
This track feels like you’re now starting to dive into the album with a very nice base in the background plus SZA mentioning how she has yet again been cheated on; the average recipe of a typical SZA hit. This song covers SZA’s struggle having to find out about her fiance’s affair in one of the worst ways possible; He buttdialed her mid affair with another woman and she was in so much shock she quite literally did not know what to do. Neither would I.
“30 for 30” 4:38 (6/10):
To preface my rating, I love when Kendrick Lamar and SZA work together, but this song does not compete with some of my other favorites that they have made together such as ‘Gloria’ and ‘Doves in the Wind’. Although I am rating this song slightly lower, the world loved this song the minute it came out especially because it has some very updated terms such as ‘chat’ and ‘crashing out’ (Which I will definitely dive into later once we get to ‘Scorsese Baby Daddy)’.
“Diamond Boy” 3:38 (8/10):
Not to be that person who compares songs and artists to one another but I feel that this song is definitely the ‘Snooze’ of this album. It has a very slow yet calm, repetitive melody while it sounds as if SZA is backing up the tune with her vocals. She incorporates base drops and nice snaps that are expected in a jazzy love song like this one. “Diamond boy why you so shiny,” is just such a creative line and I enjoy that it is one of the main lines of the chorus.
“BMF,” 3:01 (10/10):
My first 10/10! I find this song to be such a catchy summer song and it makes me realize that SZA should have released this song during spring 24’ as the second single after her other hit “Saturn” off of this album as well. If you listen very carefully SZA has sampled many lyrics from ‘The Girl from Ipanema’ and as a fan of that song, when I heard a transformed pop version created by my favourite artist I fell in love with this track instantly and it is definitely one of my favourites (Not my #1 tho!).
“Scorsese Baby Daddy” 2:34 (8/10):
One thing about SZA is that she does not need to stick to a singular genre in order to make her music reach her fans. With this song, she bends to a slightly rock sounding melody with the bass guitar and the drums in the background while once again adding angelic and relatable vocals about her being a #1 crashout! For some reason, at the start of the song when she repeats baby a few times, it has been stuck in my head for weeks and I don’t know why.
“Love Me 4 Me” 3:06 (10/10):
When the tracklist first came out for the album, I instantly knew that I would love this song just by the title. I don’t think I have heard a song similar to this because it is constantly hopping back and forth between flat and sharp notes. I feel like this song’s instrumentals lock in the genre of this album as “dream pop” in a way. It has very similar instrumentals to ‘Saturn’ and ‘No More Hiding’.
“Chill Baby” 2:21 (-/10)
No.
“My Turn”2:57” (6/10)
I like the concept of this song and I feel that SZA definitely shows off her vocals with this song. I did give this song a lower rating because It is quite repetitive and sounds to me like she is straining her voice during the chorus. The rap verses in between the chorus definitely make up for the points that I docked off. If the chorus wasn’t repeating “My Turn,” for every few words I feel like I would definitely enjoy this song more.
“Cry Baby” 4:02 (10/10)
This is by far one of the realest songs I think I have heard in my entire life. She read me like a book with these lyrics. “Maybe if that attitude took a backseat, ‘Ms. Know it all’ you’d find a man” and “All I seem to do is get in my way,” or “You’re so sick. I’m so sick of myself too.” and “It’s not my fault. It’s Newton’s law.” This is just a lyrical masterpiece and I alsolove that the song has its own outro separate from all the verses and it helps you realize that the song is actually ending.
“Kitchen” 2:52 (100/10)
Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes. My favorite song on the album and definitely one of my favorite songs of all time. This is a lyrical masterpiece and the back track is just gorgeous. It is such a peaceful and realistic song about forgiving someone who has wronged you and learning to love yourself before you can truly love someone else. “You make it hard for me to choose me” has to be one of the best lines I have heard and combo’d with the dreamy and jumpy background omnichord just makes this song so perfect in every way. SZA completely stepped out of her boundaries with this song and I probably wouldn’t be able to recognize this song as hers if I wasn’t a super fan.
“Get Behind Me (Interlude)” 1:48 (-/10)
I am not a fan of interludes because I feel like they waste a lot of tracklist potential when putting such a short song into an album. This interlude has 1 verse and 1 chorus and I think SZA could have definitely replaced this with another song. Even if I did like the interlude, I also would have been upset because it definitely wouldn’t have been long enough.
“Drive” 3:05 (7/10)
Simple yet relatable. I neither like nor love this song. I have caught myself driving at night to this song which is quite literally the whole point of the song. I do like that the song is about overthinking while driving around going nowhere late at night. There isn’t too much for me to say about this song.
“Another Life” 3:25 (10/10)
By far, my second top song on this album. I absolutely love when SZA does ballads and this meets all the requirements. This song is about how maybe in another life, she would have worked out with her past partner but unfortunately they weren’t able to in this one. Once it gets to the part of the song where SZA says “I don’t wanna be (be) just a shell of me (me).” It scratches something in my brain that just makes me feel so content with the song as well as myself.
“Saturn” 3:06, (10/10)
If this isn’t classified as dream pop, I don’t know what is. This was the first single to release for this album which was literally a WHOLE YEAR AGO and smashed the charts, becoming a worldwide hit. So many people fell in love with this song when it first released and I feel that SZA definitely should have released ‘BMF’ in spring a few months after she released “Saturn”. This song is about being trapped in a world that you don’t feel you belong in and trying to find ways to escape whether it’s literal or theoretical.