SZA: SOS Album Review

The second album is easily the hardest to get right especially when artists release such a stellar debut, as well as leaving the audience hanging for over five years. But in this case, SOS is well worth the wait.

There are only a handful of artists that have released minimal bodies of work, but still remain relevant, and still hold the attention of the world – and SZA is one of them. 2017’s Ctrl solidified her as not only one of TDE’s best artists, but also one of the most exciting R&B starlets the industry had to offer, especially after her contributions to the Black Panther soundtrack. With a slew of singles, and a couple of features, the world has been eagerly anticipating SZA’s sophomore LP, and it has finally materialised, in the shape of SOS.

Straight from the off, on title track ‘SOS’, SZA’s vocals are richer and more mature than ever, placed delicately on a sample-laden, hazy instrumental. Like with Ctrl, SZA swaggers through an array of genres on styles, a chameleon over the multitude of sonic fields and terrain crafted on the record. ‘Kill Bill’ is a sweet slice of R&B laden indie pop, with a few trap-type keys thrown in for good measure. The beat is dusty, the bass is tasteful and smooth, the guitars gossamer; SZA’s choices on the production front consistently prove to be the right ones. ‘Low’ delivers a hip-hop edge, ‘Notice Me’ has the trappy R&B flavours we’ve become accustomed to, ‘F2F’ is a 2000s tinted indie rock cut; in short, there’s something here for everyone. That said, nothing ever feels pastiche; especially ‘F2F’ with its Y2K aesthetics. The climax is a good one, and hearing SZA over an instrumental fuelled by distorted guitars probably wasn’t on many people’s 2022 bingo cards, but it is an incredibly welcomed left turn.

Probably the most awaited track since the album announcement was ‘Ghost in the Machine’ featuring none other than indie-folk heavyweight superstar Phoebe Bridgers. Like ‘F2F’, hearing SZA on new sounds and genres works incredibly throughout the record and this track is no different. Her and Bridgers’ voices complement each other beautifully, the production actually leaning more into the latter’s sound. Travis Scott also pops up, no surprise, and delivers a reserved verse on ‘Open Arms’. Like Ctrl, the lyrical themes throughout SOS combat (mainly) tales of love and heartbreak, loneliness and reflection, this time delivered in a more mature and refined package than her debut.

Despite coming in at twenty-three tracks, over an hour, SOS is a surprisingly cohesive project. In a time where quantity over quality is preferred, seen most blatantly in the mainstream, it is refreshing to see a long project which is genuinely justified. SZA doesn’t just dip her toes into new sounds, she dives headfirst, and the risks reap plenty of rewards throughout the album. SZA has set a new benchmark for modern R&B, as well as pushing the boundaries of mainstream experimentation, and the result is an incredible one.