5 years after her breaking debut project, SZA dips herself away into tones that are expansive. An expansion that includes surface-level mundanity and deep-level poignancy, SOS is another helping of SZA’s grip on the tide. And even with the bloat, when it does hit its stride, the album sinks deeper into transcendence.
After 5 years of anticipation, SZA has finally answered the callings for her next big leap. It is easy to see how SZA has swept through the crowds over the past decade, with her voice that provides a glowing aura around her as she sings with rich, captivating tones, from her writing that always showcases the complicated, layered emotions that lay underneath the relationships and the male figures that she mentions, and from the melodies that always sounds full and easy to get back to. But it didn’t start the way that is, however, as her debut project ‘Z’ with its synth-inflected production and SZA’s warbled delivery is a start that may have interesting concepts within the writing, but then said production, delivery, alongside sluggish melodies only lower the potent emotions of that project. Her follow-up project, ‘CTRL’, is a display of grand potential executed with flowing colors now that the production leans more into the hypnotic, pulling in organic instrumentation that blooms and nurtures SZA’s newfound growth as a vocalist and a writer in her own right.
However, given the gap between the release of ‘Z’ and ‘CTRL’, there is something frustrating about how it took 5 years for ‘SOS’ to come out. It is not entirely surprising however when you do look at how TDE and RCA managed SZA’s material ever since she jumped in the label the past decade. With someone that has a strong mainstream net such as SZA, it’s just bewildering how the singles are pushed out between inconsistent time frames, with the one-off single ‘Hit Different’ out in September of 2020, ‘Good Days’ released two months after, ‘I Hate U’ released a year after ‘Good Days’, and ‘Shirt’ then coming out 10 months after ‘I Hate U’. It’s quite the headscratcher honestly, where with the right promotional marketing for SZA, the record could’ve been out in 2021, or early 2022.
But even with all of that, SZA still manages to push finally through it all. ‘SOS’ is an expanse, a break away from the isolation that SZA slips into for the past couple of years. Like the unknown spaces in the ocean, it’s a push and pull of SZA’s frustrated emotions, wrapping her hands on the steering wheel and leading on whatever feels might provide her comfort and release as she continues to dive into tones that she has explored on her past two records. And with 22 tracks on the docket filled with varied sounds from Pop, Soul, R&B, and even Pop Rock, there is something potent to be found here.
In this project, SZA comes off as righteously pissed off, her complicated pain and desperation still lingering on her mind. ‘SOS’ opens up with SZA directly confrontational towards her ex as she spouts out: “All that sauce you got from me / All that shit I gave for free / I want it back, I want it back”. It’s a riveting opener, with SZA’s vocals sounding more direct as the solemn backing sample and driving bass lines firms her presence even more. ‘Low’, with its haunting atmosphere from the whirring synths, rumbling trap grooves, and Travis Scott-assisted ad-libs comes off as misty and biting. SZA, caught within that mist, roams around it with an impervious stature as she comes off hungry and threatening towards a guy that she wants to get off her sight and flips him off wholesale. ‘Used’ with Don Toliver is a plea to be genuine within a relationship that seems parasitic, with lines like “You loved me better when you tried less / I don’t take much, just need your honesty / Love will work better when you confess” sung by SZA emphasizes that even with her getting used to being toyed with in relationships like this, she still wants her partner to realize that she wants something real for once. Her and Don Toliver’s vocals are weary, now swirled around the cloudy vocal effects, glittery synth work, textured percussion and bass loops. The balancing point between the romantic and the violent of ‘Kill Bill’ with its tempered grooves, liquid keys, and SZA’s starry-eyed vocals sells this tonal shift quite well.
When that anger does subside, what she then shows is a sense of sadness and frustration. The muted reflection of ‘Blind’ is heartbreaking as SZA reflects upon how much pain she has received from a partner that doesn’t seem to care much about her making her unable to see the positive light that she wants to gather. It’s moody, where the quaint strumming, yearning strings, and SZA’s voice warping on the hook accentuate the tone even further. ‘Gone Girl’ is a grand, yearning ballad about the desperation to be held and to find peace of mind, even if she starts to crumble as she has to find it herself without anyone to reach forth. A moving, haunting track that earns its emotions as SZA’s layered vocals are nestled around the calming grooves and glossy keys that go for an exceptional key change at the end of the song. ‘Ghost in the Machine’ is apt for a song that’s about the music industry that muddles and dulls artists as they keep on trudging forward with label frustrations and leaving them without a soul. SZA and Phoebe Bridgers sound solemn and tired, but they cut through that frustration, with SZA’s part looking for a soul to make her feel distracted and connected while Phoebe’s part spilling her frustrated anger as she feels bored and rugged from being out on tours and feeling so lonely going on the same cycle over and over again. The shaky desperation of ‘Nobody Gets You’ towards a partner that has left SZA behind, only making complicated feelings as she doesn’t want to lose what she felt and what moments she made with her partner. That desperation exceeds even further, lines like “How am I supposed to let you go? / Only like myself when I’m with you” display the self-insecurity SZA has as the acoustic backdrop and her passioned vocals sell it even more.
But as it goes on, there is still healing and growth that SZA finds within. ‘Shirt’ finds comfort within the dark, a place where even if it’s jaded, it is a space where SZA finds solace as the percussive bounce swoops around SZA’s confident vocals. ‘Open Arms’ with its gentle guitar chords and drums leaves SZA’s vocal to be breathtaking and hopeful. Travis Scott’s feature is pleasant enough to work in the song, opening a gleaming atmosphere where the romantic devotion is a refreshing point on the album. ‘Good Days’, the second to last track, is a pristine transcendence where SZA looks upward, finding a sense of hope even with the shards of doubt rolling around her mind. The hypnotic guitar melodies, spare drum work, and Jacob Collier’s background vocals pepper the song with a lot of warmth and care, making the entire track sound breathtaking from start to finish.
While there is a handful of tracks that do delve deeper to a reflective glory, it’s clear that with 22 songs on the album, there could have been cuts to be had. For one, a lot of the songs feel short to the point that there are songs that could have been extended out in order to make their impact seem gratifying, whereas even if songs like ‘Kill Bill’, ‘Blind’, and ‘Used’ are pretty good songs with developed production and melodies, it wouldn’t hurt to just add a few more verses, possibly a bridge on the side as well. The case also goes to ‘Smoking on my Ex Pack’ which could have been a low-key hip-hop cut if it had been developed even further.
Second of all, there are a lot of songs whose melodies and production are sloppy enough to the point that they only undercut the emotions of the album. The sloppy melodic transitions and the underwhelming hook on ‘Seek & Destroy’, the lowkey trap spark and slowed-down samples on ‘Love Language’ make the entire song a throw away from the jump, the mild R&B cut that is ‘Snooze’, the flashy but also a throw-away trap cut on ‘Conceited’, the pop rock blemishes of ‘F2F’ with the brittle drums and crushed out guitars, the flighty acoustic cuts on ‘Far’ and ‘Special’ that don’t have the same warmth as ‘Good Days’, and the thin afrobeat acoustic mix on ‘Too Late’.
And speaking of impact, with the bloated tracklist and underwhelming songs that may have their own layered writing, it’s not helping when the structure of the record mushes the narrative points of the album that goes from being desperate to find a sense of personal healing at the end. While the first half has its own questionable structure, ‘Kill Bill’, ‘Snooze’, and ‘Notice Me’ are examples of this where even with the tuneful trap bounce of ‘Notice Me’ is still worth highlighting, their placement on the tracklist jumbles the emotive resonance a little bit. The back half is another story however, where after the layered introspection of ‘Gone Girl’ and ‘Ghost In The Machine’, the same introspection doesn’t come back until ‘Shirt’. While the songs between them do hold their own with ‘Nobody Gets Me’, the other cuts feel like underwhelming retreads, the insecurities that show up on ‘Special’, ‘Too Late’, and ‘Far’ that are already spoken on in the first half and the tonal clash of ‘Conceited’ and ‘I Hate You’ where the former could be discarded completely and the latter that fits better on the first half of the album. It also doesn’t help that after ‘Good Days’, the album ends with the alright albeit downbeat ‘Forgiveless’ that composes SZA’s dominance post-breakup but also puts the self-healing narrative to a conclusion that looks self-imposed rather than holistically meditative.
For as much as the wait is indeed worth it, SOS is an album that’s clearly bloated for the sake of everybody else waiting for this album to drop. It’s honestly a shame as the more listens that were given here, the chances of this project being even better are there. A lot of the tracks that are pretty good could have been developed much further, the songs that hamper the quality of the album could have been structured better or get thrown away from the album completely, and the songs that are mind-blowing are some of SZA’s best material in years. And that is the risk that lengthy projects with an abundant tracklist like this have to face, where even with the great songs to be found, the underwhelming cuts can make going through the record sluggish and frustrating. While SZA has finally responded to the calls that we’ve been expecting for years, what we do get is a shade away from being spectacular. After all, the ocean is a vast sight to behold, and even if there are bumps along the way, SZA still finds a glimmer that’s worth checking out.
Favorite Tracks: SOS, Low, Blind, Used, Gone Girl, Ghost In The Machine, Nobody Gets Me, Open Arms, Good Days
Least Favorite Track: Love Language