On Dec. 9, 2022, SZA released her second album, leading many to label her as one of the biggest and best stars in music: “SOS”, which included songs like the hypnotic “Shirt,” the lush “Snooze” and the breakup anthem “Nobody Gets Me”.
“SOS” was immediately successful, receiving widespread acclaim from critics and fans alike, debuting atop the Billboard 200 Albums Chart, and giving SZA her first Billboard Hot 100 #1 hit, with the instant classic “Kill Bill.” Now, after a year of being slowly teased, she has released “Lana”, the deluxe reissue of “SOS”.
Don’t be fooled though — “Lana” is much more than your average deluxe album. While it includes “SOS”’s original 23 tracks, it also includes 15 new songs.
Because many of the album’s songs were written and recorded during the “SOS” sessions, many of “Lana”’s new songs cover themes present in the original album, but SZA shows growth in how she covers them. “Saturn,” the album’s lead single, which SZA debuted last year during a Mastercard commercial at the Grammy Awards, showcases SZA’s jaded nature toward the world, with lines such as, “Sick in this head of mine, intrusive thoughts they paralyze, Nirvana’s not as advertised, there’s got to be more.” Other songs on the album, such as “No More Hiding” and “Drive,” also cover SZA’s anxieties and her need for authenticity in life.
While many of the songs on “SOS” showcased a breakup and its immediate aftermath, songs like “BMF” and “What Do I Do” show SZA returning to romance with a new sense of confidence. In “BMF,” she sings “Going too fast, don’t hurt yourself, I can’t keep up with all the lies you tell yourself, you kinda cute, but play too much, don’t play yourself, I’m not the one, but we can still pretend this can be my man.”
“Lana” comes following the announcement of the Grand National Tour, a concert tour with rapper Kendrick Lamar. SZA and Lamar have collaborated on songs many times before, most recently with “Luther,” off of Lamar’s most recent album, “GNX”. Lamar features on “Lana” on “30 for 30,” where he and SZA criticize superficiality in relationships. “30 for 30” also contains many allusions to Lamar’s infamous beef with Drake, which in the eyes of many, he decisively won.
If there is one thing that disappoints me about “Lana”, it is that SZA doesn’t experiment with genre as much as she does on “SOS”. While “SOS” ventured into alternative rock, like with “F2F,” included rap songs like “Smoking on My Ex Pack” and “Forgiveless” and even featured singer-songwriter Phoebe Bridgers on “Ghost in the Machine”, “Lana” is entirely the mellow R&B SZA is best known for. But that isn’t entirely a bad thing — if anything, the album proves SZA’s dedication to quality in her music. Even on a deluxe album, where normally, tracks would be nothing more than bonuses for fans, SZA goes above and beyond in making great music. I would give this album a solid 8 out of 10.
