SZA’s Magnum Opus: A Review of SOS
By: Noah Weinberg
Throughout her illustrious career, SZA has mastered the art of succinctly conveying human emotion. Solána Rowe’s lyrical frankness subtlety draws the listener in, while her heavenly vocals elicit responses most didn’t even know they were capable of. Top Dawg’s queen first knocked listeners’ socks off with her debut studio album Ctrl, a tender and honest record which pushed the boundaries of what an RnB album can be. In the five years following Ctrl, SZA’s follow-up reached monumental levels of hype due to numerous delays from her record label. Finally, in December 2022, SZA released her sophomore album, SOS. Sitting at over 68 minutes, SOS is sprawling in its density and theatricality. Grander and more vulnerable than any previous work, SZA tapped into a plethora of genres and sounds, smacking most of her attempts out of the park.
SZA’s songwriting is uniquely spectacular on SOS. The album may appear bloated with its 20+ genre-bending tracks, but considering that SZA wrote hundreds of songs for SOS, cutting that final number to only 23 is an impressive exercise in artistic restraint. Lyrically candid and emotionally raw, SOS’s biting lines tug at the listener’s heartstrings. For example, SZA can deliver a line so remorselessly attention seeking like the hook “I don’t wanna be your girlfriend, I’m just tryna be your person” on the bubblegum pop cut “Notice Me.” While on the Don Toliver-assisted “Used,” SZA hits you with concise, painfully honest lines which epitomize exploitation:
“Love me better when you try less, I don't take much, just need your honesty, oh love will work better when you confess.”
When asked what she wants people to take away from her album, SZA told Hot 97, “I’m pissed. I feel like the general theme is like ‘I’m pissed.” Her “pissed off” mindset is mainly projected toward the disappointing men in her life. Whether she’s fantasizing about killing her ex on “Kill Bill” or smoking on her ex-pack on that same song, SZA feels bitter, hurt, and misunderstood. That desolate state is depicted perfectly on the album’s cover, which finds SZA sitting on a diving board overlooking a seemingly endless body of water. The cover directly references a 1997 photo of the late Princess Diana, who SZA pulled from “because I just loved how isolated she felt, and that was what I wanted to convey the most.”
Most of SOS’s sonic landscape is devoted to increased space and atmosphere, playing more of a complementary role. This allows SZA’s angelic vocals to shine boldly throughout the album. The St. Louis native enlisted some of music’s best for her comeback project. Greats like Pharrell Williams, Benny Blanco, Babyface, Still Woozy, and Jacob Collier all carry production credits on the album. Few musical moments linger or overstay their welcome on SOS. The production style is ever-evolving and consistently dynamic. Some standout moments include the chipmunk soul instrumental on “Smoking on my Ex Pack,” the mesmerizing acoustic guitar motif on “Good Days,” and the sharply poignant violin outro to “Love Language.” That more subdued yet fluidly fresh production pairs well with the countless creative flows SZA utilizes throughout her project.
SZA’s melodic talent is the clear highlight of SOS. Her spectacular vocal prowess and inventive melodies keep SOS spicy and rarely lead to a stale song. On “Far,” SZA rides a roller coaster of tone and intonation. Her morosely sung verses meander around, encapsulating her downtrodden and rejected mood. Her belted, ear-wormy chorus of “Far, far like I don't recognize me/Far, far 'cause I let you define me” precisely sums up the feeling of losing one’s self. The album’s second song, “Kill Bill,” is another prime display of SZA’s virtuosic talent. Her two verses are sung briskly in a deliberately limited vocal range, creating a sort of musical tension for the listener. That tension builds until the chorus, where SZA holds her notes for an extended amount of time at a significantly wider vocal range. This musical tension into release ties directly with the lyrics of “Kill Bill,” as SZA finds catharsis in daydreams about murdering her ex.
For an album so long and dense, SOS remains remarkably cohesive. Although she incorporated elements of RnB, hip-hop, pop punk, rock, trap, grunge, and surf rock, the album isn’t anything but an authentic expression from SZA. Through the prism of relatable lyrics, SZA’s melding of numerous sounds crystalizes her undeniable talent. SOS isn’t a flawless masterpiece, though. The TikTok darling “I Hate U” sticks out like a sore thumb for its corny chorus and nap-inducing production. Speaking of napping, the song “Snooze” is quite the snoozefest. Not even SZA’s terrific vocals can salvage this song’s dull chord progression. With that being said, SOS remains SZA’s artistic peak. More daring and complex than Ctrl, SZA created her magnum opus with SOS. Music listeners have sung SOS’s praises, with the album sitting at number one on Billboard’s album charts for four weeks in a row (and counting). SZA became the first female artist since Janet Jackson in 1993 to achieve such a feat. It remains unclear if SOS is SZA’s farewell to the music industry, but if it is, rest assured that RnB’s queen went out on top.